whatever it takes

Venus: Why not? We're all human, they probably do the sort of things everyone else does. Welp, until I'm stuck with the gooey eyes I am not going to get it but I'm glad for you, that you never have to live without that feeling again. Its #whatyoudeserve. The Christmas Princes were.... certainly Christmas love movies? The second one was 100% terrible; for most of the movie, she and her prince aren't even on screen together and when they are and he's given a chance to help and support her, he doesn't and she runs off and he's like "omg why is she running off?!?! All I did was prove I'd be a shit husband?!?!" Its bizarre.

Evie: Lucky for you, you don't need to try to be cute 😘

Evie: But it sounds like you COULD use a sandwich. Maybe if you indulged in a little late night snack it would get the song out of your head lol.

Ben: Oh, me spending half my time thinking about ways I can try to impress you seems effortless? Perfect 😘

Lev: Only if I'm also a horrible person for laughing out loud and thinking that I LOVE shady King Adam, omg. That would be the PERFECT thing for him to tweet if he had a Twitter lol.

So when I booked a studio to work on a personal project of mine, I didn’t realize that they were giving me this humongous space for the afternoon. I know that studio time is hard to come by what with all the final projects coming up, and I don’t really need that big of a space all to myself, so if anyone wants to come paint with me tomorrow afternoon, feel free. Just try not to distract me too much?

You know, I think this might be the least welcome I’ve ever felt about coming to visit you somewhere, and I haven’t even come to see you yet. But between being distracting and being completely rubbish at art projects of any kind, maybe I should just leave you to it this go round and enjoy whatever amazing final product you come up with later instead.

I’m inclined to agree; there’s too many studies about how people’s behavior changes or becomes more extreme when they have more control over it. The impetus to make “fun” choices over wise choices wins out in our peers so often, even when they do know the negative side-effects of their choices. I suppose that’s why they call it the freshman fifteen, isn’t it? Though fifteen pounds is an overstatement, more than half of freshmen do gain weight in the first year and its 5.5 times greater than that experienced by the general population, fun fact. What do you think the proper age to coronate a child is? 18 was is traditional of course but it hardly seems realistic with how our world is changing. And I personally got into meditation successfully and well throughout the better part of a year? I hear my journey took longer than most though, due to my extreme problems relaxing. Sandalwood is a pleasant scent and is known for relaxing the sniffer so good job on that front.

Really? If fifteen’s not an accurate number, do you know what is? Well, I’d think that I would have at least waited until they were done with schooling. Maybe 25 -- old enough to be done with school unless they’re getting a PhD in something, and given a couple of years to shadow the previous king rather than being thrust into it when they still have so many other responsibilities. I feel like I’ll share those extreme problems relaxing, so maybe I should handicap myself at 12-15 months if I take the effort seriously. 

What an odd event, then. Certainly odder than spikes in clothing, I would say; and they aren’t necessary but they do make us look slightly dangerous which is a good look, I think most people would agree. Hmm, a plaid uniform might have forced people to be creative with their plaid, you never know! And nope! We’re walking into this debate with the element of surprise on both of our sides. Just assume I’ll want whatever is the most fun for me and try to prep against that, if you can. I’m pretty good at debates so don’t feel too bad if I win. I promise whatever it is will be fun for you too.

I really hope that’s not a hint that I should wear spikes once in my life just to see if it makes more sense to me than pink, plaid, and pearls, because my neck feels all itchy and weird just thinking about it. Do you feel like you need to look dangerous even now? I mean, I can see why that would have been a thing before but I hope you don’t have people you’re needing to scare off anymore. And I’m pretty good at debating with my advisers, and while technically you are one of them... I have the feeling that this’ll be one of those cases where I cave very easily and give you exactly what you want.

Yeah but I don’t think it should taken as a actual thing. 

Well, of course. I’m not Atlas, it’s metaphorical.

People love otters, of course they get aggressive in defense of them. Too aggressive in their attempt to be defensive but that’s the Internet for you; brings out the shadiest in all of us. And actually some people get followers because of that. Wendy’s has a Twitter account that’s whole gimmick is being rude; people even ask them to roast them, I can’t. There would be people defending you too if that makes you feel better! Oh damn, lemon garlic pizza is so good! 10/10, would recommend.

I wonder if people were this hostile before the internet existed and just didn’t have a place to share it, or if the hostility rose because people are feeding off of other peoples complaints. I don’t know if I want to know the answer, though; it’s not as though we could go back to life without it now. Wendy’s like... the hamburger place? But I thought their mascot was a kindly little girl, that seems very weird. Lemon garlic? I don’t know that I’ve ever added a lemon, actually, interesting. But it works for pasta so why not pizza, I suppose.

Arya: who thinks ur not a good person? point em out to me, ill have a chat with them. just a friendly talk, nbd

Arya: eh its all i knew growing up so its whatever. but we're making progress, one step at a time

Arya: right??? i grew up with that shit too and its so fucking annoying. glad i never had to deal with the auradon paparazzi but boy. it still sucked when everyone was like "Princess Arya, Princess Arya, what gown will you be wearing to the next ball???" bish im not going to the next ball, leave me alone

Arya: haha you said it, not me. but yeah, you going all king fuzzy.

Ben: LOL sadly most of them don't like to tell me to my face and let me try to talk things through with them. Most of them leave comments on social media or news articles, or write very aggressive notes that they put in my suggestion box.

Ben: I wish I could take things ten jumps at a time sometimes, but if you skip what's in the middle, people push back. A lot.

Ben: You got the luxury of skipping them at least :-p My clothes questions have gotten a lot easier since Evie came into my life at least. I'll never be able to thank her enough for saving me from designer questions I didn't know the answer to.

☽ for a sleepy text for @littleteapots !!

☽ for a sleepy text for @happyevieafter !!

Ben: I could try to be cute right now and tell you that I'm kind of drifting off at my desk and send you a 'sweet dreams' text to let you know I'm thinking about you.

★ for a dumb meme or inside joke text for @levbelrose !!

Arya: eh potato, potato. right, right ur sister. shes a good bean, but i feel like thats a required florian personality trait at this point

Arya: hell yeah i wanted it. i wanted to be king of Camelot, i wanted to rule. but, my dad always told me that id never rule so i figured out something else i could do. and that was being a knight. still took ages to get him on board, but it was easier than trying to claim the throne

Arya: besides. arties gonna be a better ruler than id ever be. now that im older, i get that theres more to it than just wearing a crown.

Arya: plus, when ur the head honcho, everyone cares about who you're dating, what clothes ur wearing, stupid stuff like that. perks of being a knight? i can do whatever i want

Arya: true, true. i cant really imagine u being sullen or angry, its like trying to imagine you with... i dunno, another head or something

Ben: Well, thank you. It's good to know that people see us that way - I can't speak for all of them but I know that's how I want to be viewed.

Ben: I know some regions of Auradon still aren't as... progressive as others. And that the whole country still needs to move in a better direction, but I'm very sorry that Camelot's still a little behind.

Ben: You're right about all of those things, though. The constant spotlight can get... tiring. Especially when all you had to do was be BORN to get it. You'll at least know that people are paying attention to you because you did something great, and you really earned it.