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vayshkarell · 3 months

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How I Made my V2 Cosplay

Oh boy! This right here is about how I make my cosplay head of V2. Some of the stages don't have photos, but i'll do my best to explain what I did. I also have no WIPs of the gloves, but those were super straight forward. Some photos are very low quality due to my phone having a damaged camera at the time, and other photos were taken from my instagram story as they're the only photos I have from that stage. Please note that this is not a tutorial! This is more of a story of a disastrous (but ultimately successful) project done by someone with no idea what they were doing. Please find actual tutorials by more experienced people!

The Modeling Base

This right hear is a big chunk of upholstery foam! I own a ton of this stuff, so i decided the best way to start this was a foam blank. Well, this was a bad idea in retrospect, but hey it technically worked. Kinda. I started by drawing the basic shape, then cutting out thick sheets. From there, I glued them together and began shaping with scissors to get the desired shape. Honestly a 3D modeled blank may have been better, or a base made of foam board pieces used instead. Live and learn I suppose.

After I got the shape to something i was happy with, I began the transition to EVA foam. To do this, I mummified the thing in duct tape and marked seam lines in sharpie. I then cut out these duct tape pieces, and stuck them to paper to act as a backing.

Foam Shell Construction

Once I had a pattern, I began making the actual head. To do this, I traced the pattern onto sheets of EVA foam (I believe 4mm or 6mm) and cut them out. Lots of these pieces needed bevels, some of which i had to dremel as shown below due to them not cutting correctly. Bevels are important as they make the foam crease as desired for angular shapes. I'm still pretty amateur with it though, and frequently got bevels wrong.

As I cut pieces, I began gluing them together with an awful gunk called contact cement. This stuff is a special glue that you let dry before sticking the pieces together, and it pretty cool. Unfortunately it's flammable and a carcinogen. As stated before, I'm pretty new to armor, so lots of the seams have weird gaps I had to fix farther down the line. After quite awhile, I had the basic shell assembled. However, the shell had numerous gaps and pieces that didn't fit correctly. Enter the foam clay.

Foam clay is a substance similar to model magic, and was honestly a life saver here. This thing has a second shell basically made of the stuff. I had to fill gaps primarily around the eye socket, but the entire thing honestly barely fit together.

After some filling and sanding, I made a test optic. And the head looked preeeety bad. There was something just incredibly off about it. This began the massive amounts of revising and reshaping I had to do. And fixing of awful symmetry. The head required a massive amount of sanding around the sides of the face and the chin. Between initial construction and when I began painting, I completely reshaped these areas. I made the chin significantly smaller, and added the indents or whatever (fins?) on the side of the head. However, doing all of this required me to fill in chunks of the interior with large wads of foam clay. If I hadn't done so, then I would've sanded through it in places. I also made the awful decision to gap fill with hot glue. If you've not dremeled hot glue, I don't recommend trying it. It melts the glue and sends globs of it flying, and those things are hot and really hurt.

After even more sanding, gap filling, and re-sanding, I finally got the shape to something i was happy with. Unfortunately I don't have any photos from just before painting.

Priming and Painting

The next step was for me to slather this thing in primer so it could be painted. I use Plastidip, as a tutorial i saw years ago said it was the best primer. Why does it need primed? I'm not actually entirely sure, but it's what I've heard needs done, so that's what I do.

Plastidip is a spray, so I of course did this outside. After a ton of coats, I was left with a shiny surface ready for the paint. Not much to say on primer.

Due to not currently having a functional airbrush, V2 is entirely hand painted. I coated this guy in red paint, and i mean coated the entire thing. Even areas I'd later paint black. Quick tip: Don't do that. It's a waste of paint. But i did it anyway cause I'm a dumbass. I also had issues when doing the black with getting it to stick, and when removing tape it caused some paint to peal off too. I originally had painted a barcode on the side of the head, but removing the tape took the black paint off too. Sooooo no bar code.

Once I got the shell painted, I did the optic. The test optic I used was marker on unicorn buckram, but that stuff is really hard to see through, the markers looked bad, and I couldn't pain it without clogging the mesh (due to not having an airbrush and having to do it by hand.) So, I got different mesh: a larger weave black mesh. This stuff I was actually able to hand paint, thus how I got the iris I did.

The Gloves

The gloves were, frankly, rushed. I bought a pair of cheap black costume gloves online, and then glued foam to em. For the gloves, I just used paper patterns to make the foam pieces. No fancy patterning here, just drawing shapes. After cutting the foam, I hot glued it, and then painted them. No priming on these, cause I was lazy and had a con coming up.

Conclusion

So that's about it! Thank you for reading this monster of a post! I'm hoping to eventually do a V1 head, so I'll be repatterning the V unit head soon. When I do, I'll probably make an actual tutorial. I dunno. We'll see.

#ultrakill #ultrakill v2 #ultrakill cosplay #cosplay #robot cosplay

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runningfrom2am · 10 months

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on the one screen in my town; two

summary:

mason’s life with drew was absolutely perfect, she was happier than ever; until everything came crashing down all at once.

tags/warnings:

drew starkey x fem!popstar!oc, drug and alcohol use, death, grief, these tags are not exhaustive, idk i'll add to this as it goes on.

wc: 2k

an: okay so in this chapter some shit goes down so mind the tags please!!! anyway love y'all

Mason smiles at her fiancé who's standing just behind the camera and the interviewing team in front of her, originally scheduled to discuss her upcoming album which is meant to accompany the next and final season of Outer Banks. Unsurprisingly to an unimpressed Este at Drew's side, they're mostly asking about the show and the upcoming wedding, which happens to be scheduled three months away to the date.

"I thought they were meant to talk about her album." She mutters to her friend, who just nods slightly in response, looking a little disappointed as well with the next question.

"Rumour has it as well that you'll be reprising your role as Sofia for the final season, is that true?" The interviewer asks her, Mason staring at him intently the whole time. She's known for her kindness by everyone in the industry and of course her fans, in a similar way that Drew is.

"I can't really talk about that, unfortunately, but seeing as she didn't die at the end of the last season and Sofia and Rafe haven't had any kind of falling out, I can't see why she wouldn't be back for the last season. That being said, I'm only really permitted to discuss my upcoming album today, unfortunately." Mason answers gracefully, nodding and crossing her legs.

"Not even the wedding?" The interviewer laughs slightly, tilting his head at her.

Mason glances briefly at Drew, before returning her attention to the interviewer. "Well, that depends on what you want to know." She chuckles awkwardly.

"Everything! It's set to be the wedding of the decade- with all the planning you're doing, could you see that becoming an accurate statement?"

"Oh gosh, well, I doubt that. There's bound to be another royal wedding or something, maybe Taylor Swift or Kylie Jenner will get married in the next four years so I truly doubt it." She laughs, shaking her head.

"Oh come on, you don't have to be modest. There's a lot of people working on putting everything together."

Mason nods at this. "Yes! We have so much support and it has been a life saver for us, we appreciate every minute of time that people are taking out of their own day-to-day lives to help us put everything together. To make our dream come to life, I suppose." Her cheeks are flushed now as she speaks, trying to avoid looking in her fiancé's direction- forbid her turning even more red.

"How do you find the time for music when you're working so hard on wedding planning?"

"It's a passion of mine, of course. It's something that's a vessel for me to relax and reconnect with myself and how I'm feeling, which is really important to me as an artist but it also gives me an important outlet to-" As Mason is answering, Drew and Este share a satisfied smile, pleased that they're finally on topic.

Just then Mason's phone starts vibrating in Drew's pocket, and he pulls it out quickly to dismiss the incoming call from her father. He quickly calls back. Again, and again.

"Hey, so sorry, her dad is really trying to get a hold of her. Can she quickly take a call?" Drew whispers to a member of the crew standing nearby, showing them the phone. They nod quickly, getting the interviewers attention and calling for a cut just before Mason finishes talking about her creative process.

"Here, Love, your dad is calling you. I think you should take it." Drew says, quickly approaching her and passing her the phone. She nods, hitting answer and standing up to step out, holding her phone to her ear.

"Hey, dad. How's it going?" She asks as she steps out into the hall, genuine confusion crossing her tone. He knew she was doing this important press interview today, and usually her parents wouldn't reach out until they knew she was done.

"Mason, honey, I-" Her dad chokes out into the phone after a moment.

"Dad, hey, what's wrong?" She frowns, peeking through the slightly open door to make sure no one was listening before closing it.

"Your mom... I- I'm sorry, you need to come home. She-" He sighs shakily, a pit already forming in the singers stomach. "She's passed, honey."

There's a silence on the line, as Mason shakes her head, bringing a trembling hand up to her mouth. "No.. No that's not- I talked to her this morning." She says, instantly not believing it. Her dad wouldn't lie to her, though, especially not make some kind of sick joke like this.

"I-I know, I know. I just- can you please come home? Please?" He says shakily as Mason's knees give out beneath her and suddenly she's kneeling on the floor, her body wracked with sobs.

Neither of them say a word for what must be a minute, both of them just crying into the phone and wishing this news wasn't true.

"I'll be home tonight- okay?" Mason says, furiously wiping at her eyes. "I'll fly home as soon as I can." She's still shaking, and she can hardly speak above a whisper.

"Okay... yeah. Call me later and I'll see you tonight." Her dad agrees, managing to regain some composure.

Mason just hangs up the phone, leaning against the wall and letting herself process the news for a minute. Her mom has been her best friend and number one fan forever- she couldn't begin to imagine a life without her in it. A wedding without her there, or a moment going by without the comfort of knowing she can call or text her at anytime, even though they are rarely in the same city these days.

It takes a minute, but on shaky hands and with shaky legs, Mason gets herself up. Does she have to finish the interview? She has to go back into the studio and tell someone. Drew? Este? Or keep it professional and tell a crew member that they will have to reschedule? She can't even consider professionalism in this moment. She quickly wipes away the smudged makeup under her eyes and takes a deep breath before opening the door again, stepping back into the studio and squinting at the lights.

"I-" She starts to speak to anyone who will listen, but hardly any sound comes out. Her eyes land on Drew and Este chatting in the middle of the room who both looked over to her at the same time. The second they noticed her the tears start flowing again, and they hardly get to her before her weak knees are hitting the ground again, Drew quickly catching her and kneeling in front of her.

"Hey! Everyone out- give her some privacy." Este is calling out, standing in front of her friends with her arms out, trying to keep people from looking while she frantically looks down at the couple over her shoulder as everyone shuffled out in a panic.

"Love? What's happened?" Drew asks her, arms wrapped firmly around his fiancé as she now hysterically sobs into his chest.

Mason can't even get a word out, practically choking every time she opens her mouth while Este deals with trying to make sure everyone leaves. The remaining few have good intentions, just wanting to help, but the presence of strangers can only make the news of a loved ones death so much worse. "My- my mom..." She stutters out, returning quickly to sobs.

Drew and Este understand immediately, sharing a quick look of shock and upset before Drew hugs her impossibly tighter, rubbing her back. "Oh, oh god..." He says softly, unsure of what to say. His heart is breaking along with her, he loves Catherine. They had become quite close over the last few years, and the pit in his stomach is the only thing reminding him that this is true, not some cruel joke. Somehow in the mess of things ending up with his arms around both Mason and Este as they cling onto each other. "I'm so sorry." He doesn't know what to say. "I'm so sorry, Love, you're okay..."

Completely shocked, Drew let's them go after a minute or two, insisting he'll be right back, he's not going anywhere, as he gets up and pulls out his phone with shaky hands, calling Mason's manager.

"Hey- hi, It's Drew." He says as soon as she answers the phone, not giving her a chance to get a word in before he continues. "We need to get Mason home, like, asap, we need three flights to uh, LA, we have to get there tonight." He explains, wiping his eyes and looking over at where Mason and Este are still curled up on the floor. They've been friends since they were young, he knows this is a hard hit on Este as well.

"Drew, what's happened? I'll have to reschedule some-" She asks and he interrupts her again.

"Reschedule everything. Maybe cancel it, I don't care. Can you get us back to LA tonight? It has to be private. Everything." He insists.

"Yes, yeah. Of course, but tell me what's going on."

"I-" Drew let's out a shaky breath. "Something happened to Catherine, Miles just called." He says quietly, quickly wiping his eyes again before tears even got the chance to fall. He needs to be strong, he needs to be the one to keep it together to get the girls home.

"Oh.. oh dear. Okay. I'll handle everything. I'm so sorry." She says, shocked by this news as well. "Just get to JFK as soon as possible, I'll get a plane for you there."

"Thank you." Drew nods, quickly hanging up and returning to the girls side, crouching down in front of them.

Mason let's go of her friend and reaches out for him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and crying into his shoulder. They've been through highs and lows together, but nothing like this. Never something like this. "Mason, Love..." He's rubbing her back, trying gently to talk to her. "Let's get you home, yeah? Can we walk together?" He asks and she quickly pulls away from him, nodding and wiping her face- makeup be damned. She has to get it together, just enough to get home. Just enough to make it home without the whole world seeing.

She can't speak, she knows that, but as Este gets up, she holds onto her arm and onto Drew as they pull her up. "Here, take this-" He grabs a left behind cardigan off a nearby chair, wrapping it around her shoulders and adjusting it as best as he can. He gently places his hands on her cheeks, sighing as he looks her over. "My Love..." He whispers, trying to comfort her but not knowing what to say. She just shakes her head, wrapping her arms around him again and pulling him close.

"I just- I have to get my kit, then I'll meet you guys downstairs." Este sniffles, standing up straight and wiping off her leather pants, which are now an iconic look for her.

"You'll be okay?" Drew asks her, still holding tight onto his fiancé.

"Yep. Yep, I'm good." Este nods, wiping under her eyes and placing a hand on her best friends back, leaning in to speak to her. "I'm not going anywhere, I'll meet you in the car, okay?"

Mason just nods into Drew's shoulder, focussing on breathing, but it's so hard when the only thing she can think about is her mom, her dad back home, alone, and clinging onto Drew for dear life.

Collectively, they compose themselves enough to make it to their car outside, Drew giving a quick apology to the interviewing team on the way out, most of whom are staring at them with sympathy- others with an eye roll over the inconvenience.

Cameras are flashing at them, but Mason has her head down, hood almost fully covering her face as they step inside. It was out of character for both of them to not stop and talk to fans or answer questions, so Drew already knew rumours would be flying. That's a problem they would deal with later.

Este is quick to join them, settling for throwing her kit over the back seat and into the trunk as they drive away. Mason stares down at her lap, gripping tightly onto the side of Drew's shirt, rubbing the material between her fingers as he squeezes her tight with an arm over her shoulders.

taglist:@veescorneroftheworld, @totalswag, @madelynie, @cecesrings, @slut4drudy, @mutual-mendes, @winterrrnight, @sadfury, @h34rtsformilli, @maybankslover, (lmk if you want to be added!!)

#drew starkey fic #drew starkey #drew starkey fanfic #drew starkey blurb #drew starkey imagine #drew starkey obx #obx fanfic #obx #obx3

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xbennyx · 2 years

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¬ ･ﾟ:*♡ ` Though I've closed my eyes, I know who you pretend I am. `

¬ relationship : zhongli x gn!reader

¬ tags : angst... that's it no comfort just pain.

¬ word count : 1.7k

¬ description :

I saw a concept on TikTok of a Zhongli/Ningguang where the reason Zhongli likes her is because she resembles Quizhong and decided to write a Zhongli/Reader with the same concept.

Also posted this on ao3 and wattpad! so don't panic if you've already seen this <3

Zhongli was the perfect gentleman, everything you could ever want in a partner. He made sure you were comfortable, accustomed to any place he took you to and seemed to always prioritise you. You constantly questioned why he held you in such a high regard, you weren't anything special. You considered yourself quite average... Your bafflement was amplified when you learned of his actual status, the fact he was the Geo Archon, or used to be the Geo Archon at least. Why would an Archon treat you, a normal being, in such a way?

As time progressed, around a year into your relationship. Things seemed to being going smoothly. You slowly let go of your doubts and felt appreciated that such a man would treat you so well. You felt important, attractive, happy. That was till whilst on a date at your usual spot, listening to the tales of Rex Lapis which always amused you that he liked to listen to tales about himself as a pastime, everything was going as usual. Well, until he didn't call you by your name but called you 'Guizhong'. You choked on your tea and looked him in confused betrayal. His wide eyed shock worried you even more, he eventually regained composure and said he got his names muddled due to the tale we were listening to. Credit where its due the tale was about someone called Guizhong. You shook it off and reassured him but you didn't let it go.

One day whilst he was busy with the funeral parlour, Hu Tao had requested he do some obscure advertising again. You took the chance away to do some research on this 'Guizhong' the look in his eyes when he muddled up names seemed more panicked than what he explained it was. He also didn't seem the type to muddle names or lose composure much to do so.

Wanwen Bookhouse had always been a life saver for looking up old pasts about Zhongli, even if some where untrue you enjoyed laying in bed with Zhongli as he corrected all he wrong parts. It was an opportunity to learn more about him and his voice was so soothing it often sent you right to sleep and you always woke up disgruntled that you didn't get to hear much. He always chuckled at your disdain. Your hunt for information on Guizhong gave you a headache, part of you wished you'd actually listened to the tale on that date to at least find a place to start instead of being in a daze whilst looking at Zhongli. Yeah, he still had that effect on you annoyingly.

"Can I help you find what you're looking for?" Jifang's soft voice broke you out of your frustration.

"Ah yes, my apologies for taking so long. I uh wanted to learn more about Guizhong. I heard the name mentioned at a tale last night and wanted to know more but I'm not sure where to start..." You sighed.

Jifang chuckled softly.

"Not to worry, you aren't the only one to come looking about her. Here," She pointed to a shelf mostly about Rex Lapis and you gave her a confused look.

"The one about Rex Lapis's relations and comraderies has things about her. It has a concerning amount of detail about her, sadly Archons sure have no privacy" She chuckled again.

So she was a relation to Zhongli, your anxiety was not quelled as you hoped it would be... it increased and your chest felt tight. Okay let's not get ahead of ourselves maybe she was just family, let's not jump to conclusions you told yourself. Jifang seemed to sense your anxiety, maybe its because your breath caught when she said that and you hadn't breathed out since.

"Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Her tone had softened and was no longer amused, you liked Jifang for this, whilst she was impatient she was still sweet and cared for those around her, she was an admirable person. Heaving a breath you shook off her worries and paid for the book, leaving swiftly. Your anxiety never quelled all the way home, mind racing, your inner council in a blazed panic.

Do we really want to know? We could just stay ignorant and not hurt ourselves... you debated internally looking at the book on the table in front of you. You had plenty of time Zhongli usually didn't come back till early morning if Hu Tao asked for something spectacular. You concluded that your curiosity would make you eventually read it in the end.

The explanation started off pretty normal, Guizhong was close with Zhongli, what worried you was the line about how 'they could have easily been mistaken for lovers'. The next part about her was in Rex Lapis's Close Relations: Relationships. You hoped, and prayed it wasn't what you thought it was. Alas your prayers were not heard, you read with tears in your eyes. Guizhong was once Rex Lapis's lover who is long dead. Whilst that was quite relieving in one sense there was a picture of her on the next page. She so closely resembled you, you were shocked, taken aback. Your heart constricted in pain. You connected the dots. This small piece of information made everything fall into place. Why he treated you so well whilst being a past Archon. Why he treat you with such high priority. Why he called you Guizhong by accident that day. He was only with you due the resemblance. To him you weren't Y/N, you were Guizhong. His loyalties didn't lie with you, they lay with her. Your heart constricted with pain. The idea of this amazing man you loved with every cell in your body, not loving you after all felt like your heart had been ripped from your chest. He loved someone else and used you to love them still. This entire year had been a lie, a hoax, a delusion. As the sobs ripped from your chest you felt like an idiot for ever believing someone so high out of your league could ever ever love you.

After the sadness came anger, unbridled agony filtered into petty frustration. You ripped the picture from the book. You'd already paid for it. You didn't care for it. All it brought you was pain. Zhongli should be on his way home now, you knew the route he took. It was early hours of the morning. No one was there to see your tear strewn disarray of a being storm their way down the detour he always took. It all made sense why he took that detour home by the cliffs now. You once questioned why he came home so late, he always said he just liked to reminisce on days of old. You used to take pity at his pained expression when he told you, always trying to comfort him every time he got upset over his long gone friends. Now the image of his face angered you, how dare he use you. Sacrifice your heart just to feel better. You regret ever taking pity. Ever sharing your love. You regret everything.

He saw your figure walking towards him as he heard the sound of footsteps on the leaves atop the cliff, he had a soft smile till he saw your face. His smile quickly faded to concern and anxiety.

"My love? What's wrong?" Voice laced with concern as he held your face. You didn't care for it. It didn't calm you anymore. He was a traitor. An asshole. He used you. You slapped his hands away from your face and shoved the picture roughly into his chest. His surprise was evident, you never acted like this. Never had he seen you angry at him in an entire year.

"I know everything you fucking asshole. How dare you use me? I was an idiot to ever think an Archon would care for a human so much." You spat through gritted teeth.

His eyes widen as he uncrumpled the image, regret and sympathy was the next emotion to trace his face. It infuriated you. This meant you were correct. A small part of you hoped that it wasn't the case and that he'd reassure you. You could go home. Forget this ever happened and live a peacefully ignorant life until you passed away and he moved to the next person who resembled her. Part of you yearned for that life, you were seething with anger but it didn't change the fact that you loved him. Unfortunately, he didn't speak. He just stared at the picture with pained, regretful eyes. A small part of you felt some sympathy for him, but your hurt and betrayal quickly pushed it away.

"I thought maybe I could ignore it, but even though I've closed my eyes, I know who you pretend I am." That was all you could muster, you just wanted to leave. Never ever see him again. You wanted to forget.

He reached for you, regret and sorry painted his face. You felt nothing. You just stared at him, waiting for him to say something. Anything. He didn't move. He didn't speak. Even as you stormed away and moved away from Liyue. He didn't come to you, he didn't even try. It was just another not so friendly reminder that he never cared for you, he didn't want to salvage what was left. You took that as your sign, your time had come to leave his life. As everyone would one day. You just left a little earlier, a little more hurt than the rest. He didn't deserve all the comfort he would get from his friends in Liyue, you weren't petty enough to go to them and complain. Reveal his secret. You just wanted to leave and forget this ever happened.

You never saw him again after that day. He was an asshole for what he did and you knew that, but as the anger subsided and the original hurt washed away. It was replaced with a new kind of hurt. You wished you could feel his warm, caring touch even if it was fake. You wished to feel it just one last time.

#genshin zhongli #zhongli/reader #genshin impact #zhongli #zhongli angst

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noctilucentstorm · 1 year

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i agreed with you until you said ghost game was better than all the non adventure anime

savers is really good

Savers is really good and definitely one of the more underrated Digimon series. I should probably go back to it sometime since there were elements I did enjoy, like the premise and the story. I didn't really latch on to any of the characters though and for me that's probably the number one thing I care about, which is why I would rate both Adventure and Ghost Game higher in my personal list.

Since you've brought up different series, it's made me think about my own biases to each series and why I have them and how the way one is introduced to a series can make such a difference on their impression of a show.

There seems to be this push recently (...ok, last decade) in fandom for fans to be more objective in their thoughts and feelings on a piece of media. I'm not really sure why, since the whole point of fandom is about being stupidly passionate about something and finding others who support that passion. I've tried being in fandoms where almost all the most-active members would do is analyse and critique every new work that came out. It was frankly exhausting to try and be a part of. That's not to say one can't criticise something, but in my own experience it tends to snuff out creativity in smaller fandoms.

So as a counter to that, here's my personal opinions on each Digimon series and how the way I approached each season likely shaped my viewing. Warning for lots of rambling and bias.

Interacting with media, whether they're books, TV shows or films among others, is deeply personal. The main reason I gave up doing write ups of each episode of Ghost Game wasn't because I stopped enjoying the show, but because I didn't get anything from writing my thoughts out in such a way. I've always preferred the fanfiction and fanart side of Fandom, rather than the side that analyses every scene and critiques and speculates, although I appreciate why others enjoy that.

Like probably many that still hold the original Adventure in their top spot, I started watching it at a very impressionable time. I had watched one non-episodic series before, so a plot going over a whole series in a cartoon was pretty new to me and I loved it. I started watching Digimon during the Myotismon arc at a time when there was no easy way to quickly catch up with a series without trying to tune into every episode on TV I could find. I honestly don't think I would've stuck around if I'd started watching the series sooner, but it's difficult to know for sure. By that point the dubbing changes were less obvious, although still there, and I absolutely fell in love with the characters, the settings and the plot about a bunch of kids around my age trying to save the world with all their virtues and flaws exposed. It's stuck with me even as an adult, so even if an objectively better Digimon series came along, I think it would still be an uphill battle to dislodge Adventure from the top.

I watched almost all of Adventure 02 and Tamers as they came out: weekly episodes that I sometimes had to miss due to other commitments. Unfortunately, I missed the finale of Tamers and it was literal years until I saw the final two episodes. I've done rewatches of both since and have an appreciation for them, but they just highlighted how much I missed the original Adventure kids. Is that fair? Not really. I also didn't particularly like what they did to Rika or Jeri in Tamers who were basically the only reason I kept watching (especially the former). I also wasn't a fan of the final arc, but get why others did like it.

Frontier is a weird one because I will fully admit I rate this one too highly on my personal lists compared to what it deserves. I saw it at a time when I was moving... a lot, so pretty much only saw a handful of episodes from the first half. But again, I loved the characters and I got enough of a hint of the story with Kouji and Kouichi that I was really intrigued. When I finally watched the rest of the series in it's total I was pretty disappointed like many that half the cast was side-lined and the sexism with Zoe/Izumi was pretty off-putting. Still, the initial potential of the series will always stick with me.

Savers was the first series I watched through online so went through binges and breaks as I caught up with episodes. As I said at the start, it was good, but just didn't leave an impression in the same way. Some of that was probably because I just went through episodes, leaving little time to contemplate them after. And the characters didn't hook me the same way.

I've not finished Fusion/Hunters or Appmon. The first dragged like many Digimon series and I found trying to get to where the plot picked up difficult, and Appmon was... loud. I don't think I've ever hated the partnership/evolutions scenes before, which has made viewing more than an episode at a time a real struggle and doesn't particularly leave me wanting more, despite promising characters. Both would've benefitted from me being able to watch in weekly episodes, but I missed Fusion's release and I had held out on Appmon, hoping it would be distributed legally given Tri. was.

Tri, Adventure: and Ghost Game I watched as they were released. I personally really enjoyed Tri. although understand the criticism that fans have. Given it was made by a new team, though, I never had expectations for it to feel the exact same as Adventure and I really appreciated them trying new things even if it didn't always work. In contrast, Adventure: seemed to lean too heavily on nostalgia rather than trying to be it's own thing. The expectations for the latter were too difficult for me to overcome, which is why I dropped the series about half way through. I do appreciate the pandemic may have messed with their original plans though.

And finally Ghost Game. I don't think I've hidden that I was originally disappointed when learning the series was going to be episodic and focussed on getting in new fans. I interpreted that as most of the episodes were going to be stand-alone so a new viewer could pick up the series at any point, which probably appropriately set my expectations. It was designed so someone could drop in part-way through the series without needing to go back to the beginning a bit like how TV shows aired when Digimon first started. Was it a good idea? I'm not sure, but for me I liked the comparatively low stakes in contrast to the others, while being more "realistic" on the consequences of humans and digimon trying to live together - something Tamers tried to do, but I personally thought was less successful in because it focussed more on the action and consequences to the kids rather than wider society. Ghost Game is also the first Digimon series I've watched where I feel I could stitch together a completely different story while still keeping to canon, which offers some great fanfiction possibilities I hope might get explored. I'll fully admit I was pretty surprised and disappointed a new Digimon show wasn't announced on the back of it, since it felt like Ghost Game was going to be the gateway for new fans, but with lots of newer series taking months or years off in between seasons, maybe continuity just isn't as important anymore.

Digimon has been around long enough it has a wide range of viewers since, unlike a series such as Pokémon that sticks to a formulae, it's constantly trying new things. It means some series will work for you and some will not quite resonate.

And that's a good thing!

#digimon #ghost game #wall o' text #I'm so sorry anon #you can just read the bit before the cut #the rest is my pure self-indulgence based on your ask #ghost game is such a gold mine for canon-based fanfiction #wish I had more time for all my ideas

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shihalyfie · 2 years

Note

I don’t remember whether you’ve discussed this before (and I’m really sorry for bringing it up again if you have!) but why do fans believe that Frontier “killed” the Digimon Franchise?

I noticed you mentioned recently that the creators believed the franchise was on its way out anyway since Tamers, plus I recall that Savers came three years or so after Frontier ended. Since I wasn’t active in the fandom during those discussions, I’m curious to know why fans used the drastic term “killed” when talking about Frontier. I’m guessing it has a lot to do with Frontier being the only season to not have the classic “partner Digimon” concept?

It's really nothing more than faulty logic. Frontier was the last series before Digimon anime screeched to a halt (at least until Savers). So that means, clearly, it didn't do well enough for the franchise to continue. If it had done well enough, they'd have made another series, but they didn't, so that means it was a failure and killed the franchise. Makes sense, right?

Well, technically, it is true that Frontier did badly enough that the franchise died for a time. That's not actually false. It's also true that a yearly anime like Digimon not getting renewed for another year is a very bad sign, and that ever since Frontier the franchise has always been in serious danger of dying, with Savers, Xros Wars, and Appmon all being false starts that never succeeded in fully bringing it back. But it's also true that in order to have saved the franchise from the downward spiral it was already deep in by the time of Tamers, Frontier would probably have had to perform some kind of absolute miracle to save the franchise from not dying. It takes more than just a year to kill a series! Let's look at Digimon toy sales figures from Adventure through Frontier:

Adventure: 16.0 billion yen

02: 14.2 billion yen

Tamers: 7.9 billion yen

Frontier: 4.5 billion yen

So yeah, Frontier's figure is undeniably bad, but a basic understanding of economics tells you it just happens to be in the unfortunate position of being the last one to take the fall in what was already clearly an exponential curve downwards. (In fact, I had the benefit of recently speaking with a Japanese Frontier fan -- and reading their posts even when they weren’t directly talking to me -- who said that they remember Digimon merch lines already starting to die out when Frontier was starting to air, meaning that it was in that self-feeding loop downfall position where they weren't producing the very merch that was supposed to help it gain revenue. We've still never gotten a complete soundtrack release.) And these things fall outside the purview of just Frontier too, because there were also the issues of:

Changing family structures leading to lower viewer ratings and other issues across the board for all anime from all companies

The Pendulum Progress (the V-Pet that Bandai released during Frontier's era) completely bombing, especially due to Bandai's attempt to venture into the Southeast Asian market being handled clumsily

The Toei Anime Fair (that is to say, Toei's structure of showing back-to-back short movies in theaters, which all Digimon movies were released under up until Frontier) bombing at an abysmal one-fifth of the previous year's revenue, resulting in Toei never holding another Anime Fair ever again (previous Toei Anime Fairs with Digimon usually involved sharing with a major big-ticket franchise like One Piece or Doremi, but here it was really just…uh, Kinnikuman)

Basically, it was just a disaster in all directions, so, again -- while Frontier may have been one of the last straws, it also probably would have needed to pull some kind of amazing miracle to yank the franchise out of that rut.

Now, keep in mind that the "Frontier killed the franchise" mantra mostly came from a fandom from 10-15 years ago, when a lot of fans were probably teenagers who didn't know or think much about how anime or media mix franchises are produced, but unfortunately this fanbase does tend to have a lot of preconceived notions like those that a ton of people just…never bothered to reconsider even after they became adults and should know better. And to be fair, not everyone happens to know about the above franchise statistics, and some of them were only translated, let alone released, very recently. From my understanding, the Japanese fanbase seems to have less of a perception that Frontier was the sole perpetrator, if only because they have easier access to said statistics.

But, well, you know, as much as it sucks to think about, a lot of people in this fanbase love to be rude to Frontier, so the idea of it as a "franchise killer" conveniently suits that angle, especially because Tamers also has a tendency to get put on a sacred cow's worship pedestal (and a lot of Tamers fans wouldn't dare admit that Tamers was just as big of a part of the problem, at least in terms of financial performance). So Frontier's an easy scapegoat. It's the weird series with no partner system! (Insert any complaint anyone has about Frontier's writing.) Clearly that must have made it able to singlehandedly tank the franchise in one fell swoop, and the Digimon franchise would have totally still been a profitable behemoth if they hadn't made it! Right? Yeah, uh, no. That's not how it works!

Now, as for the question of whether Frontier would have been successful if it'd come out under much better circumstances...well, of course, we'll never know. Media mix franchises have so many parts that the answer could probably honestly be anything. But to end this post on a happier note, the Japanese Frontier fan I spoke with went to DigiFes and wrote about the experience. They were worried about whether this year’s DigiFes would be popular when it was mostly about a movie with very little info and an anime series that hadn't had much in 20 years, only to have their fears completely blown away with how absolutely wild and feral the crowd went at everything, especially Miyazaki's performance of The Last Element. Which also led to their conclusion: Frontier has been getting so much love this year because, quite simply, it has a lot of fans who love it. That much is undeniably true, no matter what.

#digimon #digimon frontier #ominous-meme #shiha's ask box

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lgwifey · 2 years

Text

photoshoot

crush!gene gallagher x fem!reader

lennon gallagher x bff!reader

Summary : Y/n had been friends with Lennon Gallagher for as far back as she could remember and she'd had a crush on his younger brother for a good proportion of her teenage years. When a quick job comes up, y/n finds Gene being the only help she can get. Will the alone time bring about something between the two ?

Warning : not proof read.

2021

Y/n had had a crush on her bestfriend's brother for at least five years.

He was a year younger than her, four inches taller and had messy, mousy brown hair, a feature which was a stark contrast to his eye blue eyes and pale skin. The perfect photography model in her mind.

As much as she loved them, those eyes had been the thing to get her into this mess to start with !

"Lens please !"

Pleading was not her strong point, slapping her friend around the head intill he gave up his denying on the other hand...

" 'm sorry y/n/n but i've got prior comitments, and these guys are actully paying me so."

"I pay you in friendship !"

"Friendship isn't accepted in my morgage contract y/n/n. Look i've gotta go but i'm sure Gene wouldn't mind doing some modeling for you. Plus, he'll probably just do it for a big mac instead of a meal out at Harrods."

With that, he hung up the call. He hung up on her !

Y/n threw her phone down onto the ruffled up, baby blue bedding. She wouldn't usually object to using Gene as her model, sometimes she didn't even need to get him a big mac, just some fries and a coke would be sufficient for him most of the times when she appeared out of nowhere and asked for a short notice shoot.

She was a photographer for a late teens magazine and her boss had asked of she could get some shots in a lockdown style, but that meant that her plan had been to get pictures of Lennon lounging about on her carefully layed out mess set, which was also her bedroom. The plan for the lockdown memorbilia shoot was to have her bestie in joggers, hair messy and shirt thrown on the floor whilst he layed and prettily watched tele on her laptop. There was no way she'd let Gene into her bedroom, nevermind letting him into her bedroom being shirtless.

She bit her cheek hard, a look of complain filling her eyes.

She needed these pictures, she could be fired if she didn't get them for the article.

After a good half an hour of thought, she decided that having to be with Gene by herself was the latter of two evils, being fired was not something she wanted to be dealing with right now.

Another five minutes was used up by her trying to find courage within herself to actually ring Gene, texting wasn't one of her strong points.

An agonising four rings echoed slower than a tortoise, her lip being bit nervously by her teeth. The phone suddenly picked up a gruff voice.

"What ?"

Y/n was taken back by the grumpy shout being the first thing said. She took a deep breath in and gave a nervous 'ha'

"Urm, hi Gene ?"

She could hear ruffleing on the other side, his voice suddenly becoming nicer.

"Oh hi Y/n/n. Sorry, I thought you would be Lennon. What's up ?"

Why would she be Lennon ? Anyways,

"Oh not much. I was just wondering if you'd be cool for coming over to mine today. I know it's short notice, like really short notice, but I kinda need help with a photoshoot."

She could hear more ruffleing around and a cough before he spoke again, stuttering over his words for some reason.

"Urm yeah that's fine, fine by me like i've nothing on. Urm, urm what time do you need me over by ?"

"Anytime from now to seven would be good if that's alright ? Oh and could you also bring some lounge clothes ? It's a lockdown themed shoot."

A hum came through from Gene, also the sound of a door opening and beung slammed shut before the sound of it opening again.

"Yep, okay. Is it okay if i'm over in like, I don't know like a hour ?"

"Yeah that'll be perfect. Thanks so much Gene, you're literally a life saver."

A laugh echoed through the speakers.

"Okay dokey, I'll see you at Eleven then. Bye !"

A 'see yah' was muttered over before y/n hung up. She instantly started cursing herself for hanging up too quickly, slamming her head against a door.

Gene was slouched on one of his mate's bedroom couches having a fifa tornament against Noah when his phone started viberating next to him, the screen lighting up with a background picture of his halfbrother's bestfriend which he'd screen shotted from her Whatsapp profile.

He paused the game, a complaint from Noah sounding, and answered the call, expecting Lennon to have lost his phone or left it at their dad's or something Lennon-like like that.

"What ?"

"urm, hi Gene. "

His face danced on a boarderline white tone when the voice coming through was y/n's, aka the girl he'd been pratically in love with since he was ten. She was a year older than him and was literally the perfectest person he'd ever seen. The way her y/h/l y/h/c hair always seemed to look perfect, evwn on your bad hair days when he'd seen you around his dad's to probably bully Lennon. The way her eyelashes curled naturally. The way she teased his brother with him. Perfect all round.

"Oh hi Y/n/n. Sorry, I thought you would be Lennon. What's up ?"

No ! Why did he call you y/n/n ?! His vouce was all crackleing with surprise, causing Noah to take more interest in his conversation.

"Oh not much. I was just wondering if you'd be cool for coming over to mine today. I know it's short notice, like really short notice, but I kinda need help with a photoshoot."

"Urm yeah that's fine, fine by me like i've nothing on."

Noah shot him an offended look, gesturing vigerously to the half played football match plastered on the tele. He ended up punching his friend in the stomach to stop him being a distraction.

"Urm, urm what time do you need me over by ?"

"Anytime from now to seven would be good if that's alright ? Oh and could you also bring some lounge clothes ? It's a lockdown themed shoot."

So he needed to run to his mum's seeing how she lived closest to Noah, take the quickest shower known to mankind and get changed into something nice as well as taking a change of clothes with him, probably just a pair of joggers and a band tee, before getting you y/n's. That made her seem so much older than him, she was a proper adult, with her own actual home and a morgage !

He jumped out of his seat, grabbing the backpack he'd thrown on Noah's bed and noting to his mate that he was leaving. Just as soon as he shut his friend's bedroom door and started rushing down the staircase, Noah started following with an eagerness to learn what Gene was so quick to leave for all of a sudden.

"Yep, okay. Is it okay if i'm over in like, I don't know like a hour ?"

"Yeah that'll be perfect. Thanks so much Gene, you're literally a life saver."

He illuminated a rose shade at her words. She thought he was a life saver.

"Okay dokey, I'll see you at Eleven then. Bye !"

"See yah."

The mulletted model followed his friend down the stairs, confusion on his face.

"Gene where are you going mate ?"

"Y/n needs me help."

Noah rolled his eyes as his friend slammed the front door closed, the fuzzy figure through the window of the white plastic making it's way down the drive and past the metal gate. Gene had been head over heels Lennon's friend for as long as he could remember and he'd recently found him ditching him and Sonny more and more to 'help' the photographer.

All that could be seen in y/n's flat was a blur of human running around like a headless chicken.

She hadn't accounted in time for cleaning all her stuff up from the livingroom and kitchen seeing how Lennon couldn't care less if he tryed. But for Gene, she needed to look put together.

Her clean washing was actually put away in their draws. The dishes where washed and put away. The couch was hoovered !

Her phone buzzed before 'Bye Bye Bye' started playing, her alarm to go and get Gene some food. She had his order saved on her notes due to how often she'd go to the fast food resteraunt for the boys.

The trip was nothing less than heptic; tazi being late, rain being on and off, McDonalds being stacked to the brim with bratty teenagers, the advoidance of the chav spiecies. When y/n made it to her floor's door she found a tall figure in blue jeans and a the Undertones tee, a bag thrown over his shoulders and a blue adidas hoodie hanging around his waist.

"Sorry i'm late, didn't want you to starve."

He gave a low chuckle as she bumped past him with a brown paper bag, the yellow 'm' standing out, and unlocked the door with the Belle key. He still found it adorable that she couldn't tell her keys apart so always got them cut out of different disney characters, her key for Lennon's was Tramp.

"Don't fuss, i've literally just got here."

That was a blatent lie, he'd been stood outside playing flappy bird for eight minutes.

He shut the door behind him whilst y/n put he food bag on the top of the kitchen counter. Gene let his eyes wonder around her place, he only came occationally with Lennon but he always love how she couldn't not change everything around at least once a month.

"Tea ?"

"If you're making one."

"Gene-o, i'm always making one."

As she pushed the button down on the kettle, he started raiding the bag. He always found it amazing how she got his order spot on every time.

As blue light flowed through the clear machine, water jumping about, y/n sat herself on the counter opposite Gene, beging to explain the consept of the photoshoot.

"So it's basically you taking photos whilst I be lazy ?"

"Basically."

"Fun."

Just as the conversation began to become awkward, the ping from the kettle allowed y/n to change topic.

"Sugar right ?"

"Yeah, one."

She gave a nod. She knew he had sugar. She'd already put it in the ceramic blue mug.

Y/n was a hour into the shoot with Gene, her camera swinging a bit on her neck as she adjusted the bleach blonde's hair.

Gene forced his face to not turn hot pink as y/n moved him in small amounts between each dozen photos. She had a weird affect on him, a dizzy affect which sent him crazy.

"Gene-o ."

She gave a when as his hair fell on his face just after she'd fixed it for the angle she was working on at the moment.

He loved how she said his name, the nickname that only she was allowed to call him. Lennon had tryed it once and ended up in A&E for the night with a broken nose, but she didn't need to know that.

She flopped onto the bed, it being big enough that she wasn't too close to him that she'd break out in a blush. When she did so, the nineteen year old found his way out of the uncomfortable position of being leant up on his elbows.

"Think it's time for a break ?"

Her y/e/c irises looked up as her head tilted, find thing she met was his pale, almost ice like, blue eyes. She immeduatly headbutted back into the matress so he wouldn't catch her blush.

"Break time then."

He finished the conversation by himself, clapping his hands and going to get his now cold maccies chips.

When y/n had worked up the energy to move, the two ended up slouched on her lip shaped couch watching one of the greatest british t.v. shows know to mankind, Jeremy Kyle.

"D'ya think,"

Y/n turned to face Gene, the tele becoming background noise to their conversation.

"If your dad wasn't famous, you'd be on this ?"

"Oh definitly, 100%"

With his family's lay out there was no way he wouldn't be on it.

"What about you ?"

Y/n thought about his question, tilting her head slightly and biting her lip. Her mum had had four kids with three different men, one set of twins. Y/n was the youngest and the only girl. She had one sibling that wasn't her mum's, her youngest brother. He was her half-brother and her uncle so there was no way she would be able to escape the program. Long story short, her dad wanted to piss her mum off so got with y/n's nan. Her nan was only fifthteen years older than her mum and her dad was eight years older than her mum so they actually made a decent couple, y'know minus the already kinda being related thing.

"Defo."

As Gene went to go and turn on a new episode seeing how the credits had started rolling, he catched y/n's eyes again.

The action brought them both weak. Y/n couldn't help herself at that point. It was like a magnet was pulling her towards him. As their lips slowly attatched themselves to each other.

She didn't know if she was suposed to stop seeing how she didn't react much. He didn't do anything when their eyes met, his arctic ones hitting hers, nor when she held his jaw softly and depthened the kiss.

After a good ten seconds she pulled away, looking forwards to see the star-eyed man looking off into thin air.

"Sorry, about that Gene-o ."

"No, no don't apologise."

Y/n was about to question why she shouldn't apologise when his action answered her.

She felt his hands fall onto her waist and a force pull her back towards the other body on the art accessory couch.

masterlist

#gene gallagher x reader #lennon gallagher #lennon gallagher x reader #gene gallagher #oasis #liam gallagher #sonny starkey #noah ponte #fem!reader

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lunarsilkscreen · 5 months

Text

Techno-Baffle and the lie of AI

"Whatever you want it to do, it can do it." - The Promise of *EVERY* new technological advancement.

Sweet, have it mine the ore, smelt the titanium, and build a rocket by next week.

I used "Baffle" not "Babble". Yes.

We all want to believe in science fiction, and that the technology of tomorrow is here today. And if you look at history's idea of what "tomorrow" looks like, you'd get a bunch of vaguely accurate guesses, and a bunch of ideas that look either stupid, or very far off to what we have today.

Gilded Time Machines that look like Santa's Sleight written by H.G. Wells. Or Orson Wells describing a socio-political machine that was already in place when he wrote the book. Which happened to coincide with some ideas today.

Ah, remember when screen savers were a thing that didn't waste energy and computer monitor life?

Look at something like "Steam Punk" which is a dedicated genre of science fiction to yesterday's future today. Which serves to bring those fantasies to the modern day, and you can see just how far off our ideas actually were.

Sometimes not far off, other times, *very far off*.

Cyberpunk is the genre that describes today's socio-political machine with the same premise as yesterday's steampunk. Today's future, right now. And in a few years time, some of those ideas are gonna look pretty stupid. And there's gonna be some new form of discopunk or something that idolizes the lost future of today.

The question you are being asked is "What Exactly does AI do?" And the buzzword of the day is "AGI". I hate to tell you, we've had AGI. We've had it for decades. Maybe even centuries of you ask sociologists and data scientists.

Search engines like Google are a form of AI. They collect a bunch of data together, so you can ask Google to return some resources about a topic.

One of those is Wikipedia, a bunch of those are trash-ads. And a bunch more are other resources and descriptions by other people. Sorted by theoretical relevance. (They say if you ever go past the 3rd Google page, you've gone too far, but I find--on some research projects; you need to go deeper. Because the topical things replace the most relevant things.

And that's the exact same thing that happens with ChatGPT today.

Instead of giving you the resources it used, it just compiles them together. Usually stopping at the Wikipedia entry. And oftentimes rambling auto-complete, usuallly like "type 'women are' and then have auto-complete complete the sentence."

"women are women and women are women and women are women and women are women and women" - my phones auto-complete. Which sounds suspiciously like queer Twitter...

AGI isn't exactly far off from early video game AI enemy bots. Or Animal Crossing NPC behaviors. You give it a task, say "accomplish this goal in this way as quickly as possible" and it fails at that until it figures a way to fail successfully.

Sometimes, it's better than a human. It most often isn't, because the parameters humans give it are shit.

"Needs more Buckets"

If you say "okay track mania and finish this course as fast as possible" it'll map a pretty solid route. If you tell it play Super Mario World, for some reason... It sucks at that. Really bad.

I know why; it's because the parameters are "Go forward until you reach the end. Press jump sometimes" which could definitely be improved if the AI had a way to understand what those buttons did, and a way to understand what it was seeing on a screen.

You ever blindfold a friend and try to dictate commands to them so they can play Super Mario blinfolded?

As any 90s Mom will tell you though; Video Games don't translate into real life. You need better parameters for that.

AI also can't create anything new. It can solve problems that humans haven't been able to solve, or to come up with recipes that haven't been tried before that might be better than what we're already doing.

It can be incredibly precise.

It also can't make entertainment that hasn't already been made. If you think Simpsons has been going on long enough, just imagine it running forever with AI writers.

I'm sure the neverending Seinfeld channel already burned a lot of watchers out on AI-Media.

What is AI good for? What is it Used for? Learning models aren't new, but they are faster and easier to use on cheap tech. Even still, like the industrial revolution, and every technological advancement, it just makes monotony easy and quicker to do.

That's it.

And I hate to say it; the people currently using the AGI buzzword... Don't know how to give it parameters, and they don't know how to make it productive, other than for it to write essays like a high schooler: Copy it from Wikipedia, and change some things so it's not obvious.

That's also how you get around the plagiarism filters without trying too hard my guys. Don't even need to pay the $30 for ChatGPT.

The fact is; AI is dumb. All it is. All it ever was; is a search engine coupled with AutoHotkey.

The same two things your average hardcore gamer already knows like the back of their crumb filled keyboard.

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georgiapeach30513 · 2 years

Note

could you tell us how Beau and Bunny told their parents that they were doing to have a baby?

Beau and Bunny, and they're baby bunny 🥺 I did also say that Birdie Mae was not the daddies and LP's first grandbaby, even though Beau and Bunny were together the longest. Those two really did enjoy just being a couple for ten years. And Beau is a saver. He wanted to make sure they didn't get in a bind by having kids, and wanted the cabin completely finished.

🖤🖤🖤🖤

Little Chickadee

Summary: Beau and Arleigh are finally pregnant

Pairings: Beau X Arleigh

Rating: mild

Warnings: language, PIV sex, unprotected sex, 18+ ONLY

Word Count: 1.2K

Desperate Lives AU Masterlist

Beau Adler Masterlist

Beau watches as his wife rides over top of him. Every morning, she wakes him with a smile, and a good morning dick ride. Her always being the first one awake, and if his cock is hard, she is riding on top of him.

His hands smooth all over her body as he watches her. Throwing the need for safe sex out the window months ago. Deciding after a decade together it was time. Time for them to make a baby. And he hopes he gets a little ray of sunshine just like his Bunny.

Even when she’s doing something so nasty, it looks perfectly innocent. Perfectly pure and full of love. Beau figured it’s about time to let his wife know that she was getting fuller in her tits. Even when her body goes from bouncing on him to a slow grind, he sees the tiny little swell of her stomach. And he can’t get enough of his tiny Bunny.

The typical just nipple tits that now have enough for him to bite, and even her skin was absolutely radiant. He gives her belly a soft rub, and she lets out a choked sigh. “Bun?”

“You see it too, huh?”

“Arleigh,” he whispers. She all but stops and Beau, flips the two of them around, and he cages her. Petting around her face, he starts peppering kisses all over her. Trying to count her freckles with his lips. “This is what we wanted.”

“I know…but I…it’s always been just us. And now we’re bringing in someone new, and everything is gonna change.”

“You are getting in your head, mama,” Arleigh laughs, despite her tears. “It’s time. We wanted kids. And it’s time, whether we want it or not. Which we do. We’ve planned this,” his hand moves gently up and down her neck soothing her, and she nods.

“Now we’ve just got to tell our parents.”

“My parents are going to be ecstatic. Mom keeps asking me when your little self is gonna be pregnant. Dad wants a baby so bad. Your parents? I think I’m gonna be sick that day.”

_____________________________________________

“You know,” Beau starts staring at his in laws house. “We can just wait until the baby is born, and then tell them.”

Arleigh gives her husband a playful smack, and giggles. Her nose scrunching up with laughter, and he can’t help but to capture her lips with his. “It won’t be that bad.”

“I still try to pretend that we don’t have sex. They have all seen us. And I…why did we need so many windows and no curtains? That…my sweet Bunny, was not smart. I’ve almost died from your dad like five hundred times.”

“Oh, hush,” Arleigh opens the door, and waits on Beau. Grabbing each other’s

hands she almost skips to the house, even if Beau is still nervous.

Throughout dinner you were constantly looking at her. That was your youngest baby, and you had her memorized. You also knew they were actively trying to have a baby. A girl as tiny as Arleigh, you saw every change. And the biggest change was her boobs, because she actually had some.

Her body always draped in something flowy, gave nothing away on her stomach, but her need to not wear a bra, showed everything. And even the fact she had more than just nipples.

Even Ari gave you a knowing glance. And it also was blatantly obvious when they wanted dinner alone. But it was your other daddy that surprised you. Putting his fork down he leans over the table looking between Beau and Arleigh, “Go ahead and spit it out.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Arleigh smiles at one of her biggest supporters.

“The hell you don’t. Beau can’t quit smiling and looking at you, and normally he’s side eyeing me. You haven’t stopped touching him. So, tell me my sweet daughter…did you get another animal.”

“Daddy,” you groan looking at him. “Seriously?”

“I’m just saying, they can tell us right away they got chickens, ducks, and goats, but heaven forbid they tell us that they’re finally having a baby,” Arleigh gives Beau a quick look before looking back at her dad. “That is what you’re doing right?”

She nods smiling so big looking at him. “You two have been together forever, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner, considering he can’t keep his hands off of you.”

“Dad!” Arleigh whines, Ari gives the two of them the biggest smile, but Curtis gets up to give his baby Bunny a kiss to the top of her head.

“Sweetheart, you two are going to be the best parents. And you’re going to love that sweet little thing that you’ve got growing in your nest. I’m proud of you, both of you.”

______________________________________________

Telling Beau’s parents was a completely different beast. The two of them had practically begged for a baby for years. Both of them talking with Beau and Arleigh separate and together.

So when they had invited Beau’s parents for a day at the farm, just showing them the new additions, Frank was no dummy. He could watch his son’s face and how he struggled to be away from Arleigh. How his hands were always resting on her stomach, and even the few times he gives it a little squish with his hand.

But watching his wife try and figure it out, was the highlight of his day. His wife loved kids, adored them, and he had apologized daily that they didn’t have more kids, especially since Beau made them wait so long for grandchildren.

So when it took Beau obnoxiously rubbing over Arleigh’s belly, trying to round out the growing bump as much as possible, and his mom still didn’t notice, Frank had to chuckle. Beau even kept saying baby over and over again, and she still didn’t get it.

“Mom, you see that window right there?” he points at the window closest to their own room, and she nods. “I’m thinking that we’re going to turn that room into a baby’s room.”

“Well, you better knock Bunny up then. It’s about damn time. I have been waiting,” Beau holds Arleigh’s belly over her dress, and his mom finally sees that tiny little bump. “No. No, baby, you…is there…we’re gonna be grandparents.”

“You already were. Iris has given you…”

“But that…that will really be mine,” Frank’s green blue eyes look at his wife, when he realizes exactly how much this means to her. His arms wrap around her tightly and he gives Beau the biggest smile.

“There’s a real baby in there?”

“Yeah,” Arleigh steps closer, “you wanna feel it?”

“Oh,” her hand drifts over on the belly and she remembers when she was the one telling Frank that she was expecting Beau. Her beautiful, handsome boy that she was so proud of. “Do you know what it is?”

“A human,” Arleigh giggles. “We’ll find out on delivery day. And the little chickadee is healthy, and moving.”

Sugarplum wipes her steady flowing tears, before smiling at her son and Arleigh, “Oh this thing is going to be so cute and beautiful. If you need a babysitter, Pummy can do it. Or if you just need food, I’m here. It’s about time. I thought I was gonna die before you ever gave me babies.”

Masterlist

#desperate lives #desperate lives au #desperate verse #da au #da au request #dau #beau adler #arleigh everett levinson #beau adler x arleigh adler #beau x bunny #curtis everett #ari levinson #daddies x lp #daddies x little princess #curtis everett x reader x ari levinson

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mybodyliberation · 1 year

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Three years ago I made the switch to menstrual cups and I haven't looked back. It's made a massive difference to my period health and I love that for me.

We all deserve to be able to have as comfortable a period as possible and no matter what menstrual products you choose, they should help not hinder your menstruation.

Now I don't necessarily regret using other period products in the past. Honestly, we know what we know, when we know it. But now that I know there's a whole world of options, I'm grateful that the journey I took led me to this destination.

So let me share with you some of the reasons I LOVE menstrual cups.

It's A Money Saver

According to www.wen.org.uk people who menstruate can end up spending over £18,000 on period products in their lifetime. Excuse, me what? That's an annual salary. Do you KNOW the amount of spa days, vacations and bills we could pay with that? Compared to the average menstrual cup retailing at around £23 and lasting up to 5 years? I'll let the math babes, do the maths, but that's savings honey. Put those coins towards something you need and any extra can go towards something you want.

Lower Environmental Impact

Not only to do mainstream period products contain chemicals that should be going nowhere near your vagina, but a lot of these products don't break down, which means they end up on landfills and those same chemicals get soaked up into the earth and mix with our air and and ground water. Big period companies that have been capitalising off of our periods for decades, aren't fussed about creating holistic products for your body or for your planet, and no matter how much of a household name that product is and no matter how much greenwashing they try and do, their agenda is their bottom line. Menstrual cup companies are majority B Corp organisations with commitments to the planet and to people.

They support your vagina.

Did you know that whilst tampons absorb menstrual blood they also absorb any other vaginal fluid? This can lead to PH balance disturbance or the disruption of the healthy bacteria that your vagina actually needs. Cups don't absorb and so they can't actively disrupt your PH. And if you didn't know, the PH balance of your vagina is important because an acidic vaginal environment is protective. It helps create a barrier against harmful bacteria and stops yeast from multiplying too quickly and causing infection.

There are so many more reasons why I love menstrual cups, and I'd love to share. So let me know if you want a part two and in the meantime, tell me why you love menstrual cups?

#menstruation #period #period hacks

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lossie92 · 2 years

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Hello again! I'm glad to hear my ramblings are welcome, I'll endeavor to keep them up. And no worries about response time, I completely understand the sentiment and would never want to press someone into responding, much less on a time schedule.

I'm glad that you're feeling better, even if it's not perfect! Naps have been both the bane of my existence and the highlight of my day recently, oh so nice and relaxing but God am I tired of being tired, ya know 😅? I was feeling much better, til I got a kidney infection for the first time a few days ago lol. Have to say, 2/10 not the absolute worst but wouldn't recommend.

On the artsy front, wonderful! I had an outline for the project I wanted to make, now all i need to do is order the materials. And I'd love nothing more that to credit you and your lovely art 💜 (but it may be a long while before it's done 😭 sorry I'm a little slow with projects).

Speaking of projects, I absolutely adore little bby Madara and Tobirama, their just so soft and smol and squish and Mada being protective and Tobi just clinging and ahhhh so cute 🥰. And the comic where bickering ends in Tobirama basically /throwing/ himself at Madara is hilariously sweet, I keep chuckling and going aw🥺 at the same time. Also, you've begun doing drawing streams! (or have you streamed before and I just missed it whoops) I do hope you're having fun with them, it's quite enjoyable on my end. I find watching someone draw or paint meditative almost idk.

As for the food side of things, pineapple on pizza is incorrect but I suppose mistakes are human 😞. In my opinion though, your weird food combo doesn't really seem that weird to me either. But I am also the person that swears by avocado mahsed potatoes so maybe I don't have a leg to stand on here lol.

Here's a question for ya, if you would like: If you could have any superpower possible, what one would you pick and why?

Thank you for understanding! ❤️

Oh dear, I hope your kidney is better now? That sounds terrible! I have recently avoided a stay at the hospital, but only just... Hope you didn't have to stay there or if you did, it wasn't for long. I think every chronically ill person can relate to the dislike of hospital stays and visits, even if we all know they are needed sometimes.

I can't wait to see it whenever it's ready! Take your time, I will await the results patiently and keep my fingers crossed that you have fun completing the project 😄 That's all that really matters in art imo: having heaps of fun.

Aww thank you so much! I like that sketch of them too! Need to finish it finally instead of just glancing at it every other day lol. Same goes for that comic... Which you can see another sneak peek out of below, because why not 🙃

I haven't actually streamed art before, but it's really fun and I'm happy to hear you're enjoying yourself watching them. It is kind of meditative, I suppose... 🤔

In my defence, I haven't had pineapple on pizza in years and I'm not sure I would like it much nowadays. Hmm avocado mash potatoes doesn't sound weird to me tbh. I may actually try it out one day, cause now I'm curious how it would taste...

On the superpower front, I think I will be a bit boring, but I would love to be able to teleport. I have trouble walking, so that would honestly be a life (and time!) saver for sure! How about you? 🧐

#my fave anon is baaaaack #thank you for stopping by #always a joy to see you in my inbox #lossie stuff #mdtb #madatobi #madara #tobirama #lossie draws

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basiccortez · 2 years

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Everything you write I feel it, really. And i love it. Can I make a request? Earlier I was looking for new rings and suddenly the thought of Jake looking for a ring to propose couldn't leave my mind like I need fluffy Jake content, please!

Jake fluff. . . but with a twist of single!dad Jake. . .

ps i wrote this at like 4AM (don’t ask why i was still awake) so if it sucks ass that’s the reasoning

When Jake was twenty, he never imagined becoming a father. He had just started getting serious about music and creating a band. He never imagined having his high school girlfriend show up on his doorstep in tears telling him she was pregnant.

But five years later, he didn't expect to be looking at engagement rings with his daughter, Sage by his side either. Jake was finally going to propose to his girlfriend, Y/N. The whole Kiszka family was excited about it.

Jake had met Y/N at a local park. Sage was about two and a half, and having a total meltdown about dropping her ice cream on the side walk. Jake didn't have any clue what to do, he was only twenty-two at the time. Y/N had seen the whole thing go down, and bought the little girl another ice cream, this time in a dish. She walked over to the father-daughter duo and offered them the replacement ice cream.

"You're a life saver," Jake said to Y/N.

Y/N smiled and said, "I'm just another love of ice cream too."

Jake had been reluctant on letting Y/N into his life. His life had already become crazy with him trying to start a band and being a single father. Jake took baby steps with Y/N, not wanting to jump into anything with Sage around. But Sage took a quick liking to Y/N, and Jake knew in that moment he could never let her get away.

Y/N had proved time and time again she was the perfect step-mother to Sage. Her and Sage's mother got a long very well, which Jake was scared about. Y/N had taken great care of Sage when Jake was gone on the road. She had even surprised him at several shows over the years with the brown haired little girl in the wings.

"Which one do you think Y/N will like, Raptor?" Jake asked his daughter, picking her up and pointing at the various rings in the case. Sage had earned the nickname 'Raptor' from her Uncle Sam, because according to him, when she was a baby she screeched like a velociraptor.

"I don't like them. . ." Sage said softly, putting her face into her father's neck.

"Come on, don't be like that," Jake said patting her back, "We talked about this, Sage."

"I don't want to share you," Sage pouted and Jake sighed.

"Come on, help me pick and I'll buy you that new build-a-bear you want." Jake bargained with the five year old. Sage picked her head up at the mention of a new toy. She smiled and looked back down at the case with glistening diamond rings.

"Can I help you guys?" A sales associate said to Jake.

"Uh. . . yeah," Jake said, "I need to find an engagement ring,"

The associate smiled at him and began explaining all the different options in rings they had. Jake tried to tell the associate the best he could of what Y/N might want in a ring. He had snooped through her Pinterest page before coming down to the jewelry store. He had also gotten as much information out of Mackenzi and Sage as he could. Y/N wanted simple, nothing too fancy, but nothing too plain either. If it was up to Jake, she would have the biggest diamond ring that money could buy, to proudly wear and show off who she was engaged too.

"What about this one, Sagey?" Jake asked his daughter, pointing at the ring in front of him, "We can add some sage gemstones for you too. I bet Y/N would really like that."

"Can I see closer?" The little girl whispered. Jake looked at the associate, asking silently for permission and they nodded. Jake took the ring and kneeled down in front of his daughter, showing her the ring, "Daddy. . ."

"Yes baby?" Jake asked her. Sage flung herself at him, wrapping her little arms around his neck, "Oof, babygirl, you're getting strong."

"I think she'll like it," Sage whispered in her dad's ear. Jake couldn't help the large smile that spread across his face.

"I think so too," He whispered back to her.

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

"Where have you guys been all day?" Y/N asked as Jake and Sage walked back through the door. Sage ran right up to Y/N showing off the build-a-bear longhorn that she had been begging for.

"Look! Look what Daddy got me!" Sage yelled as Y/N picked her up in her arms. Y/N swung her around in a small circle causing her to giggle. Y/N kissed her cheek before setting her back down on the ground, "His name is Leroy!"

"Wow!" Y/N smiled, kneeling down in front of the little girl, "What else did you and Daddy do today?"

"We went and looked at-" Sage started saying but Jake nudged her.

"Secrets, remember, Raptor." Jake said, holding his pointer finger up to his lips.

"Oh yeah, secrets," Sage said and slowly backed away from Y/N. Y/N watched the little girl in confusion as she crept down the dark hallway into her playroom. Y/N then turned to Jake who had the same confused expression.

"Secrets?" Y/N asked him. Jake looked down at her and nodded. He held his hand out to her and pulled her up to standing on her feet, "Hi."

"Hello," Jake smiled and greeted her with a kiss, "Everything good to go for the party on Saturday?"

"Yeah," Y/N said, "What's it for again?"

"Uh. . . Sam's birthday."

"In February?"

"Early celebration," Jake shrugged and kissed her cheek before walking into the kitchen to start dinner, "You ask too many questions. Now come on, dinner isn't going to make itself."

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

Saturday rolled around and Jake was a nervous wreck. He was sweating and shaking. Y/N thought that he had come down with the flu and Jake did his best to brush her off, keeping her occupied with tasks for the party. Mackenzi had come over early and did her best to keep Y/N busy while Jake finished things up for his plan.

It was about seven at night when family and friends started filling into the house. Sage clung onto Jake for most of the night, in some sort of mood. She wasn't her usual bubbly self, walking around and gathering everyone's attention (something she clearly inherited from her uncle Josh). Sam had tried to coax her out of her attitude but nothing seemed to be working.

Jake had calmed down a little bit, the liquid courage in his veins helped calm his nerves. As the day progressed, he had realized even more that he was making the right choice. His eyes never left Y/N's form, watching her wherever she went. Watching as she dazzled around the room, doing a fantastic job as hostess.

"You gonna do this, bro?" Josh asked walking over to his twin, Sage on his hip, her head tucked into his neck.

"Yep," Jake answered, knocking back the last of his drink. He placed a kiss on Sage's cheek. Josh set her down, and Jake took her hand, walking into the center of the room, "Hey! Can I get everyone's attention!"

The chatter in the room died down and everyone's focus was on Jake. Y/N gently pushed her way through the crowd to stand by Sam and Josh who were front and center.

"First off, I want to thank everyone for coming tonight. We know we are surrounded by friends, family and love, but to actually see it, it's something different," Jake started and Sage wrapped her arms around his leg. He chuckled and placed a head on her head, "I have always been so thankful for everyone in this room. I didn't realize it at the time, but it truly takes a village to raise a child. You guys have helped me so much in the past five years. But I really want to thank, Y/N, who's been by my side since day one."

Y/N smiled at Jake, and he blushed. Sage's grip on her dad's leg tightened, knowing what was to come next.

"Y/N, I don't know what I would do with out you. And I never want to experience that. You are a great mom to Sage, and just a great person in general. I love you so much," Jake said, his eyes never leaving Y/N's. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little black velvet box that had been burning a whole into his pocket the whole night. Sage released her dad's leg so he could kneel down in front of Y/N. Y/N sucked in a deep breath as Josh pushed her closer to Jake.

"Please, make me the happiest man ever. Complete my family," Jake spoke, "Marry me?" Jake opened the ring box and Y/N put her hands over her mouth. Y/N was stunned, and couldn't find the word to say, so instead she just nodded, "Yes? Yes?!"

"Oh my god, Yes!!" Y/N finally answered. Jake pushed himself off the ground and wrapped her tightly in his arms. Cheers erupted from the group around them as the two held each other tightly.

Sage looked around the room as everyones eyes were on the happy couple, as Jake kissed Y/N passionately. The little girl slowly slipped through the crowd and up the stairs to Jake's music room. She could still hear the cheers and the conversation, so she pushed open the small recording studio Jake had built and closed the door. She crawled underneath the piano and sat with her head in her hands, tears falling down her face.

"You really said yes?" Jake asked Y/N, holding her face in his hands.

"Yes, Jake, I really said yes," Y/N smiled and Jake wiped away the tears from her face, "The ring. . . Jake is beautiful. Are those sages?"

"Yeah, Raptor picked it out," Jake smiled. He took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger. Jake held her hand up so they could look at the ring, "Perfect fit for a perfect girl."

The rest of the night was spent celebrating the couple. Sam had made his "famous" margaritas and Josh broke into the record stash, playing his favorite music. Slowly people started to leave, leaving behind Sam, Josh, Danny and Mackenzi. Jake sat on the couch, with Y/N in his lap, as she ran her fingers through his hair. Jake couldn't help but hold her right hand in his, running his fingers over the ring.

"Where's Sage?" Sam asked. Jake lifted his head up from the back of the couch and looked at Sam with wide eyes.

"She was down here, wasn't she?" Jake asked.

"I haven't seen her since you proposed," Josh said, sipping his drink.

"What do you mean?" Y/N asked, sitting up straighter, "Where is she? Sage!?"

"Sage!?" Jake yelled as Y/N stood up from his lap. The rest of the guys and Mackenzi started looking through the house for the little girl, "Sage Michelle!? This isn't fucking funny!"

The group split up, tearing apart the house to find the little girl. Y/N did her best to try and keep Jake calm, knowing the one other thing he loved more in his life than music, was his daughter. Josh wondered upstairs, flicking on bedroom lights and checking closest when came to the music room. He flicked on the light and noticed the door was closed to the recording booth. Josh sighed and shook his head, knowing exactly where she was.

Josh opened the door to the booth, and could see the little feet poking out from under the piano. Sage was much like her father, earning his stubbornness, and lucky for Josh, he had twenty-five years of experience with stubbornness. Josh walked over and sat against the wall across from where Sage was tucked under neath the piano.

"You know a lot of people are looking for you," Josh said. Sage just shrugged and turned around, so her back was facing her uncle, "Your daddy is very upset right now. He thinks something bad happened to you."

Sage perked up at Josh's words. She knew not to scare her dad like this. She had done it once when she wondered out of a green room at a concert and was running around the venue, hiding underneath the stage. Jake had basically pulled his own hair out, and sent everyone on a wild goose chase to find his daughter. When she was finally found, Jake punished her and made her sit in the green room for the whole concert.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Josh asked her. Sage had always told Josh everything. It was just something about his calm demeanor that made her open up to him. Josh was the uncle she confided in, while Sam and Danny were the uncles she always wanted to play with.

"I'm sad." Sage answered.

"Why, peach?" Josh asked her using her nickname he had given her. He hated the nickname 'Raptor', he said it made her sound like a deranged child. He chose 'Peach' instead, saying she was as sweet as his mother's homemade peach cobbler.

"I have to share my daddy with Y/N now," Sage mumbled, "It won't be just us anymore. He has to love her too."

"Peach," Josh sighed and crawled over to her. He sat down and Sage immediately crawled into his lap, "Your daddy has so much love in his heart, that he is able to love both you and Y/N, and me, and uncle Sammy and Uncle Danny, and grandma Karen and grandpa Kelly and Aunt Ronnie ALL at the same time. You have a special place in his heart just like Y/N has a special place in his heart too."

"I don't want him to forget me," Sage answered, tears now falling down her cheeks.

"No one could ever forget you, peach," Josh said, kissing her cheek, "We love you so much. Y/N loves you too. I know it'll be hard, but you have to remember, your daddy will never ever stop loving you and neither will Y/N."

"You mean that?" Sage asked him, her brown eyes wide.

Josh smiled, "I mean it. They will never run out of love for you. Okay, so there's no need to cry. We are celebrating something happy. We all want to be happy for Y/N, Daddy and You too! This party is for you too. We're celebrating Y/N joining your family."

Sage nodded and Josh wiped her tears, pulling her in for a tight hug. Josh stood up and grabbed Sage, putting her on his hip as he walked out of the music room and back down the stairs. Jake was standing in the middle of the living room, looking frantic as he was on the phone with someone. Y/N looked up at the stairs and sighed in relief, she touched Jake's shoulder, getting his attention and then pointing to the stairs.

"Oh thank god," Jake rushed out, "It's okay, Mom, Josh found her. Yeah, yeah I know. I'll see you later." Jake hung up and walked over to where Josh was setting Sage down on the ground, "What have I said about hiding, hm?" Jake asked his daughter, kneeling down to her level.

"I'm sorry," Sage said softly.

"You can't hide like that," Jake said and ran his hand through her brown hair, "Where did you go? We looked all over the house, calling your name and everything."

"I was in the booth under uncle Sammy's piano."

Jake let out a breathy laugh as he closed his eyes and shook his head, "No more hiding, okay. You scared all of us."

"I'm sorry," Sage said hugging her dad. Jake kissed the top of her head and she pulled away from him. Josh nudged her, hoping that she would share what she had told him, "I was upset cause I thought you weren't going to love me as much anymore."

"What?" Jake asked her confused, "I could never do that. I love you just as much as I love music and as much I love Y/N."

"I know, uncle Joshy told me," Sage smiled over at her uncle, "I'm happy that Y/N get's to be apart of our family."

Y/N smiled at the little girl and walked over to them. Y/N placed her hand on Jake's shoulder, "I'm happy I get to be apart of the family too, Sage. And thank you for picking out the ring. Your daddy told me you added the sages to it. It's beautiful."

"Can I help pick out your dress?" Sage asked.

"I can do you one better, how about you help me plan the whole thing," Y/N said. Sage's brown eyes lit up.

"Really?!" She asked and jumped down running to Y/N. Y/N grunted at the force of the five-year old girl hitting her legs but she smiled down at her, ruffling her hair.

"Yes," Y/N smiled, "Now go ask Auntie Mackenzi what she has planned already."

Sage nodded and ran off to find Mackenzi in the kitchen. Jake stood up from his spot and walked over to Y/N wrapping his arm around her. Jake placed a kiss on her cheek and smiled.

"You realize our wedding is going to have space cowboys and aliens right?"

"Yeah," Y/N sighed and looked over at Jake, "If it makes her happy, then I'm happy."

"This is why I'm marrying you."

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h0neyjaehyun · 2 years

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☁︎ 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐞 ☁︎

Summary // Tali and Taeyong first meeting

Characters // Talia Flores + Lee Taeyong

Era / Year // April 2014

Word Count //

Talia always tried to look past physical appearances as they could be deceving to the real thing. The most beautiful people can be the most wicked in her experience, and the most intimating can be the sweetest people you could ever meet. So when she first saw Taeyong she didn't hesitate right away to say hi or ask for help. When she looked at him at first glance she could see the rumors, but when she looks closer at him she could see something different. Honestly it reminded her of her brother who had the same intimidating appearance.

The contrast between the two would make people not believe they are twins or even related. Her brother took pride in his glare, he could ward off annoying people away with just a stare, completely different from Taeyongs perspective of his eyes.

He was surprised when a girl who is known as shy came up to him. He looked at for a second and said hi back. She fidgeted, rocking back and forth making eye contact.

"Can you please help me with the choreography?" She quietly asked looking at him with hope. She saw him from the corner of the room and after their teacher left, she was a little confused on some part of the choreography and she seen him dance and he was a great dancer.

She really wants to ask him but she heard rumors about him which did make her think twice but she thought risk it. She looked up a little with a cute nervous expression on her face. Taeyong melted at her act, he smiled and nodded in agreement. Her face brightened in relief.

"Thank you, you are a life saver." She sighed in relief as they went to the center of the room to start.

"So you got the basics right?" He asked, she nodded confirming. He nodded back in response.

"Okay show me what you have and then we start from there?" He suggested, she nodded as he started the music. Much to his surprise she had a good flow, he could tell she was hesitant in some moves and how she need to add some power in her moves. Until she turned and she stumbled, she quickly regained her balance as Taeyong when to hover making sure shes good. She looked up sheepishly and smiled.

"Ah balance is not my strong point." She admitted looking away. Taeyong chuckled at her act, and nodded.

"Okay lets start with that." He clapped and started showing her some excercises to help with balance. But from what he could tell she did pretty good just needs some help with balance and her power in some moves.

Talia without fail followed his instructions during that time Taeyong got puzzled, usually when he is concentrating people would get nervous or scared of his facial expression but Talia never batted an eye. Talia looked backed at his confused on why he was looking at her like that, if anyone went by they would think she insulted him and he was glaring at her.

"Talia."

"Hm?" She hummed in response.

"Why aren't you scared of me?" He asked quietly, Talia was taken back by the question. She found it sad that he has asked that but she answered back nonetheless with a question.

"Do I need a reason to be scared of you?" She asked sincerely tilting her head confused but also understood where he was coming from just didn't want to assume too fast. Taeyong on the other hand was taken back by the question.

"Are you not scared of my eyes?" There was silence.

"Taeyong-shi you sound like a villan with a terrible backstory who got told by the people around him that his eyes were scary and me the main character got asked if I think they are ugly as you just kidnapped me." She said blatantly, he blinked a little loading he then bursted out laughing at the example. He caught his breath and sighed smiling at her which she smiled back. He felt refreshed with her, not judged, no high expectations, no bahanded comments, no fear. Just warmth he felt from her. She got up and bowed and looked up with a loving smiled.

"Thank you for your help." Taeyong smiled got wider.

"No problem Talia~." He slowly raised his hand and then got the confidence and petted her hair. She looked at him wide eyed, he found her eyes adorble like a doe. She hummed and walked to grab her bag and looked back at him who was already looking at her.

"Taeyong-shi you know its okay to look scary, I believe theres nothing wrong with looking scary. My best friend has a similar eyes that you do, and they are beautiful."

Taeyong couldn't do anything but stand there kinda start struck. No one really has ever told him that his eyes were beautiful, not even his own mother. He watched her walk out while he was still there like a statue. He raised a hand to his heart like it hurt. The affection from one girl made his chest tight, water was slowly welled up and throat felt closed. He hit his head on the wall and and slid down crouching putting his head between his legs.

How can one person be so warm.

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herosofmarvelanddc · 2 years

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OTP Tag Game

I really needed a distraction today and I saw some other people doing this game and it looked fun. I won't tag people because it's long but please do it and tag me if you want! Rules: pick your 10 favorite ships (can be in random order) and then answer the questions. Choose ships before reading the questions! 1. Romanogers - Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanoff (MCU) 2. Huntingbird - Bobbi Morse/Lance Hunter (Agents of Shield) 3. Seeley Booth/Temperance Brennan (Bones) 4. Keenler - Elizabeth Keen/Donald Ressler (The Blacklist) 5. Olicity - Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak (Arrow) 6. Jisbon - Theresa Lisbon/Patrick Jane (The Mentalist) 7. Percabeth - Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase (PJO) 8. Hodgela - Angela Montenegro/Jack Hodgins (Bones) 9. Thea Queen/Roy Harper (Arrow) 10. Dousy - Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa (Agents of Shield)

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6? Technically I shipped Jisbon before watching the show because my best friend watched it and would recount the angst of them still not being together to me every week on our walk to school. I think the first episode I watched was actually the first episode they kissed and I was in love but I didn't actually watch the show for many years. But yeah, I shipped them the entire time I was watching the show. I really fell in love with their dynamic though around season 3 or 4. 2. Have you ever read a fanfic about 2? Uh Yes. A lot 😅 I've also wrote several Huntingbird fics. @bobbiamorse is my favorite Huntingbird author so everyone should check out their fics! 3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/Tumblr screen saver? No, but to be fair I never have couples as my profile pic or anything. If I had a Blacklist specific blog though, Elizabeth Keen would definitely be my profile pic and Keenler might be my banner 4. If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be? I would be devastated. Rick Riordan put them (and me) through way too much pain for them to not get a happy ending. No. I refuse to believe that Percabeth isn't endgame. 5. Why is 1 so important? Because they are perfect. Their relationship was underrated but their chemistry was off the charts. They may have never got together in the movies but every single scene they had together was impactful. CAtWS was a phenomenal movie, "I didn't want you to be alone", the 2 years on the run, the 5 years after the snap, "see you in a minute", Steve saying they were her family. All of these moments (and many more) were so small but packed a huge punch. I know people liked their friendship but they literally embodied everything I love in a good OTP. Natasha is also one of the most underrated MCU heroes despite being one of the original 6 Avengers. And Steve Rogers/Captain America is the hero I strive to be. We have similar personalities and he's probably my second fav hero after Nat. So the pair together just meant a lot to me and I love them

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship? Roy and Thea are a serious ship and didn't get the love they deserved! I know they were both background characters but in general, I think the writers dropped the ball a lot when it came to their potential. The one later season episode where Roy came back was like a balm for my shipper heart and I will stand by that they eventually found each other again and got back together. 7. Out of all of the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry? That’s. This one is tough. Top 3 is definitely Olicity, Dousy, and Romanogers. All 3 of these, I started shipping almost instantly which I think speaks to chemistry. Dousy had less than 10 episodes between meeting and getting together and yet it was one of the most authentic relationships on the show in my opinion. The relationship was shocking but so perfect and natural. Plus, seeing Daisy happy was exactly what I needed from the last season. Romanogers I already discussed but yeah, I think they have a lot of chemistry because every interaction had so much emotional meaning to it. Olicity has to make the list though because they were the first ship I fell in love with purely through a mutual's tumblr posts. Long before I watched the show, I shipped Olicity because every gif made of them (before they were even together in the show) had them displaying so much love for each other. Even the writer's acknowledged that their chemistry is the only reason Felicity became a regular cast member instead of a rare background character. 8. Out of all your ships listed, which ship has the strongest bond? I feel like almost all of them have incredibly strong bonds forged by years of friendship and partnership in highly dangerous scenarios. But for this question, I will say Booth/Brennan, Keenler, and Jisbon have the strongest bonds considering it took 6-8 seasons of them being FBI partners before they finally admitted their feelings. They all exhibit unwavering trust in their partner and a willingness to do almost anything for their protection. Their bond goes far deeper than their romance. (And I totally could have also thrown Romanogers in here but I've said my thoughts on them) 9. How many times have you read/watched 10s fandom? I don't even know how many times I've watched AoS at this point 😂 At least 3ish full rounds and several partial rounds. But I've only watched season 7 twice. 10. Which ship has lasted the longest? I think that award has to go to Angela/Hodgins and Booth/Brennan although they have the unfair advantage of having 12 seasons lol. Angela and Hodgins technically have a season on Booth/Brennan but considering they got less focus, I'm saying their equal. 11. How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up? 0 unless you count Jane running away in a panic them breaking up but I don't really consider that since they were married a few episodes later. 12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8? Almost definitely Bobbi and Hunter. As much as I love Angela and Hodgins, Bobbi and Hunter are trained spies and have seen a lot of weird crap. 13. Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason? Did they hide their feelings from themselves? Yes. Hide their relationship from others? No. They kissed and got thrown in a lake for the best underwater kiss ever. 14. Is 4 still together? This question is rude and I take personal offense to it. 😭😭😭 Listen, Keenler is together in my heart but unfortunately, the writer's are cruel, evil people who wanted to make fans hate their show by killing off the main character. I have refused to watch the current season because of this. #ElizabethKeenDeservedBetter 15. Is 10 canon? Yup! Only two ships on this list aren't canon but luckily, Dousy is one of them and they are kicking butt in space on the SWORD team 16. If all 10 ships were out into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win? This is way too hard considering most of them are some type of superhero/spy/FBI agent. I would guess that Romanogers, Huntingbird, and

Percabeth would make it the longest but who would win among them is totally up in the air. 17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s ship? Um yeah, Oliver and Felicity 😂 Like yes others tried to use the other for pain purposes but no one was better at sabotaging their relationship as themselves. See Seasons 3, 4, 5 and bits of others for prime examples. 18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond? ALL OF THEM! There is not one ship on this list that I don't firmly believe belong together and were good for each other. I wouldn't consider them OTPs if I wasn't ready to go to battle for them 19. Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s Tumblr page? From time to time, yes. Unfortunately, Bones has not been airing new eps since 2017 so their isn't new (canon) content to fill my soul but Bones is my comfort show so whenever I need a pick me up, I will go through the tag. 20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all forever, which ship would you sink? Unfortunately probably Thea/Roy. I think technically they weren't even back together when the show ended. Which means they've already been apart for years so as much as my shipper heart loves to believe that Thea went back for Roy like people suggested, I would be okay with that never happening if it meant my other ships got their happy endings (which several did not. grrr)

This was extremely fun and just the distraction I needed. I told myself I wouldn't let this get too long but with 20 questions, it was kind of unavoidable.

#tag game #otp tag game #romanogers #huntingbird #booth x brennan #keenler #olicity #jisbon #percabeth #hodgela #thea x roy #dousy

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softhairedhotch · 3 years

Text

tagged by @goobzoop <33

1. why did you choose your url?

because aaron has soft hair, and i just thought it was really cute!! :))

2. any side blogs?

for some reason, two? but i literally never use them?? like there's nothing on them, not even a pfp?? i would say their username savers but even then, what for? what am i planning to do with them? who knows, because i certainly don't??

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

years and years, dunno exactly how long, but i've had this specific account since 2018. i deleted everything though and started anew sometime mid-march and now here i am :))

4. do you have a queue tag?

nope, don't queue things.

5. why did you start your blog in the first place?

read some cool hotch fics, logged back into this account for the first time in forever to like them and read them again, and then i just... started making random posts? then those posts quickly became headcanons, and then eventually i started writing lil fics/drabbles :))

6. why did you choose your icon?

because aaron,,, he looks so so soft,, and then i added the bisexual and non-binary border because i am both of those things <33

(also aaron is totally bisexual, just wanted to throw that out there)

7. why did you choose your header?

it used to be thomas gibson blowing a kiss but idk it didn't really look good there? so now it's just some cool aesthetic picture that is dark blue because i thought it looked cool!!

8. what’s your post with the most notes?

the one about soft things that aaron has done for others, which has 303 notes <33

9. how many mutuals do you have?

i have no clue, but quite a few? i'd say like, just under 60? (i did go and count but i think i miscounted lol, so yeah, around 60)

10. how many followers do you have?

436 <33

11. how many people are you following?

134,, oops.

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

most definitely. dunno what, but i must have done.

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

a few hours at most?

14. did you have an argument with another blog once?

no.

15. how do you feel about “you really need to reblog this” posts?

i don't like them, personally, but it depends on the post. i don't like the ones where they guilt-trip someone into doing so, or makes them scared, but the ones that can truly help someone are mostly okay.

16. do you like tag games?

yes! although i suck at doing them haha.

17. do you like ask games?

yes, same answer as 16!

18. which of your tumblr mutuals do you think is famous?

@tobias-hankel hehe

tagging: @scorpio-hotch <33 ( + anyone who wants to do it!)

#about me #cas talks

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monsoonblooms12 · 3 years

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Christmas with the Waverleys ❄️: Part II

Summary: How do things turn out when Alex and Pooja are teleported to the 19th century for a Victorian Christmas🎄?

A/N: Hi, how is everyone doing💫💛? Firstly, wishing a very happy Christmas Eve to everyone🎄! TBH I still cannot believe this year is about to end. Anywho, I wish everyone’s life is filled with joy, wonder and happiness and the new year brings you loads of new possibilities and new memories. Love you all!💛

If you enjoyed the story, please like, leave a comment or reblog. Your feedback keeps me going 💕

Thank you so very much @caseyvalentineramsey for prereading and @jamespotterthefirst for prereading and helping me up with the editing. You guys are life-savers and I love you💛💛

Characters: For this part, the characters are my OH f!MC(Dr. Pooja Sharma) and OH F!OC (Dr. Alexandra Walton), Eleanor Waverley, Thomas Waverley, Clarissa Waverley, Simon Waverley, Rose Waverley and William Waverley

Word Count: around 3.2K

Rating: General

Prompts :-

CFWC(@choicesficwriterscreations ) Winter Season Prompt #6: Character A doesn’t like the holidays. B loves it. Will B try to find out why or convince A to celebrate it?

@choicesmonthlychallenge ~Sibling Appreciation: The Waverley Siblings

@choicesdecemberchallenge Day 24: Eve

December 24th (contd.)

Suddenly it felt as if the world was spinning very, very rapidly around them. They felt dizzy, nauseous. Just when bearing everything was becoming too much, a chilly air went past them.

They slowly opened their eyes. And the sight in front of them had them holding their breath without their knowledge.

A huge medieval mansion, covered in snow, appeared before them. It was majestic, beautiful and warm.

They looked around. As far as the eye could see, No other house was visible.

Is this the place they were supposed to reach? Or did something go wrong?

Pooja and Alex looked around in utter awe. Both due to the mansion and the wonder if they had been teleported to 19th century London.

"There you are!" A deep, humble, feminine voice called out.

Turning around they saw a young girl either approaching 20 or in her very early 20s coming out from the mansion towards them. She wore a medieval red gown, the upper half of which was covered by a shawl, and only the lower half with minute patterns of red silk was visible.

Not knowing what else to do, Pooja and Alex, too started walking through the snow towards her.

After a few minutes, they stood face to face. The girl had a small, faint smile, but her eyes expressed the happiness she felt on meeting her visitors.

She bowed slightly.

"I am Eleanor Waverley."

"You both must be Pooja and Alexandra!"

Confused, both of them bowed similarly as Eleanor had. Confirming her words, Pooja spoke, "Yes! I am Pooja, and she" She pointed towards Alex, " is Alexandra."

"Great! Oh! I haven't even invited you in. Please follow me."

"This is our house, The Braidwood Manor."

Eleanor added as she opened the brown panelled glass door and led them in.

The interiors of the Manor gave a majestic vibe. A huge golden chandelier with 7 ornate lamps hung down from the high ceiling. The floor had decorated tiles of various shades of orange and brown.

On entering, Pooja and Alex were mesmerized with the beautiful inside. It also provided them with the warmth which they were craving since the time they teleported to the Victorian Era of Britain.

When the two were taking in all the details, Eleanor's voice jolted them out of their thoughts.

"From the time Mrs Ainsworth informed us that some guests were going to join us for Christmas, we were excited. Especially my sister and my little brother." A smile lightened up her face as Eleanor gazed gratefully at her guests.

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining us this year. I promise you will not regret anything about all this. We rarely have visitors on Christmas. Your presence is like a light in our dark, solitary winter nights. Thank you, thank you very much!"

A little tear slipped down her eye as the smile remained still on her face, signifying her happiness.

Pooja stepped forward.

"Eleanor, It is not you but us who should be thankful. Thank you for letting us celebrate this Christmas with you. Maybe, finally, my best friend—" She pointed towards Alex "—will warm up to the idea of holidays. We are very excited for the celebrations"

She finished with a smile as Alex joined her. Alex's face, too, bore a smile, but it didn't quite crinkle the corners of her eye. It was a pleasantry.

"We are excited too! Let me introduce you to my famil- Oh!" Eleanor abruptly stopped. "I nearly forgot! Let me first show you your rooms. And-"

She seemed awkward, as if searching for words. She looked down at their dresses.

And Alex, understanding what she was trying to signify, relieved her from her awkwardness.

"Eleanor, I guess it has something to do with our dresses, right?"

Not knowing what to say, She nodded her head slightly.

Pooja said, "Ohh Yes! Eleanor, please help us with them?"

Eleanor was relieved for not having to say it herself. She was pleased with their intuition and understanding nature.

"Please follow me. I will provide you with everything."

She led the two of them up the Grand stairs to their rooms. As the two slowly took in their surroundings, Eleanor came and provided them both with a beautiful Victorian gown. Pooja's was teal and white, while Alex's was hunter green and Congo red.

Once ready and all decked up, Eleanor took them for introductions.

The three of them entered the dining area of the Manor, and slowly the big family of three young children and their parents came into view, seated on the dining table, behind which, the wall bore an intricately decorated mural and a magnificent fireplace along with some painting of the family.

The sound of the footsteps caused five heads to turn their way, each accompanied by a gentle smile and warmth in their eyes. Each, except one. The boy's face did turn towards them, but it remained hostile and indifferent.

"Seems like he doesn't prefer our company"

"Mmm-hmm. It's okay, We are just here for a day"

Pooja and Alex went up to the friendly members who had now got up from their chairs and stood to welcome them.

Eleanor, went to the elder lady, and spoke to her, "Mum, they are our guests for Christmas." She went up to Pooja. "This is Pooja" and then to Alex "and this is Alexandra"

Her mother stepped forward and the two girls bowed like they had seen Eleanor do when she met them. She was pleased and warmly welcomed them.

"Ahh! So happy to have two golden girls joining us. I am Rose Waverley." She kindly gestured them to get seated at the table along with everyone else.

Once everyone settled down, Eleanor finished up the rest of the introductions. Her father William Waverley, her sister Clarissa Waverley and her two brothers, Thomas and Simon.

After chatting a bit more, they finally delved into the Celebration plans.

"My dears, we haven't started putting the decorations yet, because I very strongly believe that decorations are a very essential part of igniting the holiday spirit." Mrs. Waverley informed.

Alex nearly scoffed at the 'Holiday Spirit' but realizing the circumstances they were in, she stopped herself.

Holiday spirit, ugh! Why Poo Why?

But Pooja was genuinely excited. She always wanted to visit a Victorian house and celebrate Holidays the Victorian way.

And all this? It felt like a dream come true.

She excitedly said, "Very True, Mrs. Waverley! And please don't worry! We will help in every way we can."

"Great then! We can start working then. Ellie, and our guests can put up the decorations, while Clarissa helps me in the kitchen. Thomas can put up everyone's stockings, and two more for our guests, at the fireplace, while Simon and Dad finish the book they were reading."

Everyone happily nodded and went on to carry out their assigned jobs.

Pooja, Alex and Eleanor, headed towards the Parlour. It was grand.

Two huge bay windows brought in the faint light of the exteriors. By one of the window, an elegant piano sat peacefully and on the other side was a large, comfortable couch, perfect for family seating.

And just beside the couch, was a beautiful, delicately manicured, fir tree stood as the symbolism of the Festivals.

Pooja and Alex were so immersed in viewing everything that they didn't notice that Eleanor was not there with them. They realized the same when she came with a huge box in her hand.

"Here are the decorations that are to be placed"

She set down the box that she was carrying. It was filled to the rim with glass ornaments, crackers, lights, red paper strips and various other decors of tin and leather.

"But I am really confused about which pieces to put up and which to skip out?"

Eleanor sighed, staring at the plethora of ornaments.

Pooja nudged Alex, "Don't worry! When Alexandra Walton is here, nothing can go wrong!"

What in the world? Poo has lost her mind. Oh, No!! Now what?

"Uh... Huh. Ya, I mean, sure. I will help."

"Help, Lex? Nah. You will lead, we will follow."

Eleanor let out a gentle chortle as Pooja continued to tease Alex. She was in awe of both of their friendships.

Suddenly she remembered that soon, very soon, they will take their leave.

She sighed as she thought. Even though they had come in her life for an hour or so at most, it felt like they knew each other since forever.

"Eleanor?" She was brought back to the Braidwood Manor by the sublimely worried voice of Pooja. She looked at them to see both the girls looking at her with a concerned look.

"Eleanor? Is everything alright? If there is any trouble troubling you, you can share it. We will help any way we can!" Pooja and Alex assured.

"No! No worries, as such. Just..." A pause. "I have never had anyone like both of you in my life. Although my family is loving, and I will forever be grateful for them, but... I have, never had friends like you both are."

"Oh, Ellie!" Pooja calling her by her nickname caught her off guard for a moment, but she soon got her grip and smiled at her. "You are our friend. Good friend,"

"Great friend" Alex inserted.

"No matter, we are here tomorrow or not, you will always be our friend,"

"Always?" Eleanor sought for a confirmation.

"Always." The two assured while placing a hand on Ellie's shoulder. Their hearts were full of the feelings of a freshly sprouted planting of friendship.

"Oh-kay! So let's start creating a masterpiece out of this tree, shall we?" Pooja shot an excited look towards her friends.

"Yaa, Happy Holidays." Alex groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Alexandra, you won't regret it! Let's get going!"

"If you say so." Alex gave her a tiny smile. She was not the one to turn down a good friend.

"And, it's Alex" she added as the three went up to look through the ornament.

Time passed, like a gushing stream flowing down a rocky hill, as the three meticulously put each glass ornament, each cracker and the fairy lights, one by one, with extreme care and perfection.

Pooja was hyped, Eleanor excited, and Alex, very strangely, was Happy.

Was it because of the company, or had she finally begun to enjoy holidays? That will forever remain a mystery.

But will it be so bad to see Alexandra Walton opening up to the idea of festivals? Not a mince!

An unknown number of hours later, they were finally done. They stepped back to admire their handiwork.

And didn't it reflect their hard work!

Each delicately placed ornament, each strand of fairy light, each funfilled cracker made the tree look heavenly.

Their placements complemented each other and their collaboration was splendid.

If they weren't friends made for each other, who were?

As Pooja, Alex and Ellie stood admiring the bejewelled fir, a soft aroma filled the room. It was then they realized, how hungry they had been! As soon as the thoughts crossed their mind, Clarissa came into the parlour. The power of telepathy!

"The food had been served! Mom invited you all to the dining room." She almost left when her eyes fell on the tree.

"Woooow! This is so pretty! Mom and Dad will be so happy."

She went to where Pooja and Alex stood.

"Thank you soo much for this. I have never seen our tree looking soo beautiful! You two are angels."

The little girl's happiness reflected in her eyes.

Alex lightly placed her hand on her shoulder. "We enjoyed decorating it too! But you should thank your sister first. Without her, this wouldn't have been able to do it so perfectly."

Clarissa went to her sister and gave her a big hug. "You know you're the best Eleanor. You're the best big sister."

Eleanor shed a tear as she hugged her little sister back. "You are precious too, Clarissa! You, Thomas, Simon, you all are!"

After staying in the hug for a bit longer, Clarissa escorted them to the dining room. As soon as they entered, the delicious aroma of several lavish and extravagant delicacies overpowered their senses. Their mouths watered.

At the table, they say a perfectly roasted stuffed turkey sat at the centre. Mashed potatoes, gravy and vegetables were placed in sparkly silver. There was cranberry sauce. Oysters, Yorkshire Pudding and tender Chicken looked delightful.

"Please take a seat my dears" Mrs Waverley urged as she placed two decorative plates in front of them along with all the additional pieces of cutlery.

"This is a traditional English Christmas Feast. Enjoy yourselves!" She said as she whole-heartedly served her guests.

After they finished the huge servings of the main course, dessert was served. A beautifully made Christmas pudding and a piece of fruitcake.

If not before, Alex had definitely melted by now. As she finished the last crumb of the delicacies served, she thought to herself, "Maybe Holidays aren't so bad. Food, Friends, Happiness. I don't think I could ask for more."

What a growth!

After the dinner, as Pooja went to see the Christmas tree one last time, she heard a soft melody touching her ears, which came from the Parlour. As Pooja went in, she saw the silhouette of a boy playing the Grand Piano. As she went in, she realized that it was Thomas.

Without disturbing him, she stood a little closer. Thomas must have realized that someone was there. He abruptly turned back.

"What are you doing here?"

"I remembered a tune that I learnt some while ago. Is it okay if I play?" Pooja enquired.

"Fine. Go On."

Thomas remained Stoic, but he was definitely intrigued.

Pooja slowly took a seat at the piano. She played the gentle notes of a Parlour music tune she had picked up from Alekhya. Thomas closed his head as he lightly swayed his head with the soft tune.

Once finished, He looked up to Pooja at awe.

"Where did he you learn that from? That was melodious!"

Not answering his question, Pooja offered, "Do want to learn it?"

Thomas let out an excited Yes. And the duo spent the rest of the evening teaching each other tunes and talking a bit here & there.

All this while Alex went to Simon. The little boy was so excited to see her. Mr Waverley left him with her as he went to have a stroll.

Simon sat on her lap and Alex, told him colourful stories, of fairies, of dragons and even of the future. Her storytelling won his heart and his demands for One More! never diminished.

At last, as he fell in a sweet slumber, the long evening of stories ended.

A little while later, Pooja came searching her. She told her about her evening with Thomas and Alex softly told about how she spent her evening with Little Simon.

As they chatted, they did not take notice of Mr Waverley coming back in the room. When he slowly called for Simon, that's when they got aware of his presence.

As Alex handed Simon back to him and the two took their leave, Mr Waverley stopped them. They turned to see the man having a smile of gratitude on his lightly wrinkled face.

"I can not thank the both of you enough for coming here today. Our Christmas, Holidays have always been just the family. My kids always wanted to have someone over for the occasion, but living in a solitary area like this didn't make it easy for people to come over. Having you here, I can undoubtedly say that this was the Best Christmas Eve we have ever had!"

At his words, both Pooja and Alex had tiny droplets at the corner of their eyes. They thanked him and chatted with him for a little while before finally retiring for the night.

December 25th

The Christmas morning began when Eleanor came waking the two sleepyheads and asking them to come and see the gifts they had received.

They got dressed and as they entered the Parlour, were greeted with excited squeals and heartfelt laughter, that rubbed away any reminiscences of sleep that remained.

They saw the family opening their gifts and the floor all covered with handkerchiefs, pieces of jewellery, board games books, mufflers, embroidered suspenders and even larger articles like a theatrophone and a dishwasher.

Pooja and Alex too got sweets, nuts, little handmade trinkets, jewellery, reading books, watch case and scarves.

The unique article that Pooja got was a vintage board game while for Alex it was an Indian work humidor.

Both of them also received a box of home-made cookies each. Everything was too precious for them, the bonding that they had formed with this happy family was all they needed for a great time.

A lot of talks, food and smiles later, all of them dressed up for the Church.

However, Pooja and Alex realized they didn't have much time left. They asked Eleanor about the time.

It was still early. Perhaps they would be able to listen to the carols before they had to take their leave.

"Ellie, I don't think we will be able to stay for longer. We will get to hear the carols but, we don't much time left."

"Can't you stay here with us?" Eleanor said as sadness spread over her features.

"We are sorry Eleanor, but there are some circumstances not in our hand. When time comes, one has to bid Adieu! But the feeling is definitely mutual." Alex softly replied.

Their heart broke at the thought that they would never be able to see each other again. But what is the use of denying the inevitable.

Eleanor was one determined girl. She wouldn't let them miss the carols!

"You came this time, you will come again. You know the right person who can bring you back. Promise me, Promise me you will come back!" Eleanor requested.

Then it dawned upon them. If the lady brought them here once, she could bring them back again!

Happily, they promised, "Promise."

And with that, the three hurried down to join the family on their way to the Church.

Carol singers and musicians played and sang the five melodious and popular carols of the era. Beginning their performance with O Come all ye Faithful, and the symphony continued with Once in Royal David’s City, moving on to See Amid the Winters Snow, O Little Town of Bethlehem.

At last came the majestic music of Away in a Manger.

Each of the performance was a musical gem, and if they could, they would have recorded each of the pieces and take them with them.

But just as the ending notes of the Carol began playing, Pooja and Alex, started feeling slightly light-headed.

Their time, here, was coming to an end.

Quietly whispering their hurried goodbyes, they picked the bag of their gifts.

As they went last notes of the Carols faded, they faded from the 19th century with the pieces of love they had garnered from the Era of Victoria.

Only one thought crossed their mind as their senses finally gave out.

This was a Christmas well spent.

PS: Lots of hearty thank yous to you for reading💖! I hope you have a great day ahead💖, and wishing you a Very Merry Christmas is Advance🎄!

Fic Tags (please let me know if you want to be added or removed!) : @bbrandy2002 @whimsicallywayward15 @ohramsey @hopelessromanticmonie @trrfanaddict @nervoussaladsludgeopera @imonlybibecauseofethanramsey @lovablegranny @bellcat2010 @gkittylove99 @starrystarrytrouble @3riche @chetachisblog @arcticriver @aylaramseycarrera @drariellevalentine @mvalentine @aestheticartsx @angela8754 @schnitzelbutterfingers @ao719 @choicesstan1 @nikki-2406 @neotericthemis @anotherbeingsworld @maurine07 @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics @zoehanji

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