#(I also include them in my version of the end of 3 but that's another post entirely)

[aysrin]

Needle Felt Siffrin Build Log: (oct 6 - nov 20, 2024)

Credits goes wholely to @insertdisc5 for creating ISAT and siffrin's design! I am just here to attempt to make cool fanart (and get more people to play isat.. my devious plans are going great so far :3) As always, this isn't a tutorial- it is just a log about how i go about approaching a sculpture and I hope this collection of resources can help others make their own sifs!!

PSA: this has some spoilers for endgame CGs/sprites on my references image board ( also might see it in the backgrounds of my process pics). And bc this is needle felting, you will see some sharp needles! beware!

my inspiration was the intro cutscene where Sif eats the star, so my main goal was to adhere to the style of ISAT as closely as possible while transfering it to 3D space. And I knew i also wanted to try making the cloak for stopmotion purposes, so my process was tailored towards having control over the fabric with wire inlaid within the cloak (more on that later).

I ended up not sticking eyebrows on top of siffrin's bangs lol but anyways, first order of business is Gather Reference! v important. pureref is free and an awesome program. I also do some sketches to visualize the pose and important details i wanted to include in the sculpt.

behold the isat wiki gallery page! tawnysoup wrote an awesome ISAT style guide that absolutely rings true in 3d space too!! adrienne made a sif hair guide here!! (sorry i couldnt find the original link, but it's on the wiki). It says ref komaeda hair so that's what i looked at, along with other adjacent hairstyles! I also like doing drawovers on in progress photos to previs shapes n stuff to get a better idea of the end result.

Also if you're like me and struggle with translating stuff into 3D space, take a look at how people make 3d models and figurines! sketchfab is also a great resource! I looked at the link botw model by Christoph Schoch here for hair ref. (I used Maya, but there's a blender version too ! you can pose characters too if your model has been rigged!)

Face:

Started off blocking out the main shapes of eyelids and iris, and then filling in the colour details in the iris and the star highlights before moving onto adding thin black outlines and eyelashes. I didn't take many in-progress photos cause i kept ripping stuff out to redo them many many times, sorry!! This eye took about 3 hrs bc i just wasn't happy with it!! Sometimes it do be the vibe to give up, go to bed and see how it looks in the morning (more often than naught, it looks fine and it was the "dont trust yourself after 9pm" speaking)

The Mouth:

Couldn't decide if i even wanted to add a mouth as per usual with all my humanoid sculptures.. but i did some drawover tests first to see what expression i liked and to try to visualize it from multiple angles. (I was also testing the placement of stars on the hat brim here)

And then I redid the mouth like 3 times cause the angle just wasn't right (this went on for about the course of a week yay!)

Hair: woe baldfrin be upon ye

I made the hair strands individually first, and then since Sif has some of the hair at the back dyed black, i covered some of the tips with black wool (manually) (I think it would go much faster if i just took a marker to it, but hahaha i love pain and detailing!! )

And then the rest of it was positioning strands with sewing pins layer by layer, always looking at it from different multiple angles- sometimes tailoring the angle or swoop of individual hair flippies. At one point I thought the back looked too cluttered, but the hat covers a lot of it anyways!! yay for hiding mistakes! (imo this is a similar process to how cosplayers style wigs, but on a smaller scale and the same level of time consuming)

As always, look to your reference for guides, and I always do a whole bunch of drawovers over in progress photos to ascertain what was working and what wasn't.

Hat:

A trick to get a super pointy tip, make another tip seperately while keeping the connection point unfelted, and then combine the two to make super pointy hat!! (this also helps if you made the hat too short and need it to be taller. ask me how i know)

The embroidery on the hat brim was done in a hoop and then invisible stitched to the felted top portion. Technically you don't need a hoop but it helps keep the fabric tension, so you avoid puckers in your embroidery. You can also use iron-on stabilizer if your fabric is loose weave or particularly thin. this is the tutorial i used for the stars embroidery! particularly the fly stitch one, french knots, and the criss-cross stitches. highly recommend needlenthread for embroidery stitches and techniques! i learned all my embroidery from this single site alone.

For fabric, I think I used a polycotton i had in my stash,, unsure of the actual fiber content bc i bought it a long time ago. I used DMC Satin floss which was nice and subtle shiny but frayed a lot so it was kind of a pain to stitch with... but keep a short thread length and perservere through it!! After the embroidery was done, I folded up the raw edges and invisible sewed it to the top portion of the hat.

General shape:

Ok general structure of the body is this: wire armature body covered with black wool -> cloak lining & wire cage -> edge of lining is invisibly sewn to the main cloak at the hem -> head

Don't be afraid to mess around with the pattern, it's essentially a pizza with a slice taken out of it to form a steep cone shape!! Use draft paper before cutting into felt to save material! (i think i made like 3 cloaks before i was happy with the shape lol).

You can also hide the seam of the cloak and collars by gently messing up the fibers of the felt with your fingers or a felting needle btw! you can also sandpaper the seams according to Sarah Spaceman in this vid (highly recommend them for their in depth cosplay/crafting builds holy smokes), though since sif cloak is at such a smol scale, I just blended the seam with my felting needle.

For the lining wire cage section, I sewed in wire around the cloak, so the main rotation point is at the top neck area under the collar. These paddles are used to keep whatever pose I need the cloak to be in for stopmotion purposes. Then after the wire is done, I invisibly sewed the lining to the cloak at the hem (same technique as the hat brim to the lining there).

In hindsight, I should've used a thinner fabric for the lining, but i only had sheer white in my stash so had to go with double felt, thus resulting in a really bulky lining but oh well!

Heels:

started with the general boot shape, then tacking on the diamond shape heel stack and also diamond shape sole bc we're committed to the bit here. I skewer the boot onto the armature which also conveniently hides the connection point into the base to keep the whole thing upright and also I can rotate the boot to tweak the angle if needed.

Pins:

I kinda just trial and error'd jewellery wire with pliers into the pin shapes. They're itty bitty!! had a whole bunch of fails before i got two nice ones. A hot tip is to use needle nose pliers and wrap the wire around the tip to get a smooth circle shape!

Base:

I smoothed out the edge of a circular wood base with a dremel, and then used wood stainer to get the black colour. It ended up kinda looking like I took a sharpie to it, but whatever.... now i have a whole ass can of black wood stainer........ I then made a rough mountain of black wool and stuck the feet armature in. And now he's standing!!

Normally at this point when I'm done felting everything, to get a smooth finish, I'd take a small pair of scissors and carefully snip away any flyaway fibers, but this time, I just left them fluffy cause i think that's what sif would do :3c

Photoshoot:

Normally I do shoots using daylight but it was winter so the sun was nonexistent. So I broke out the home lighting setup aka dollarstore posterboard for a nice smooth background, and then hit it with the overhead Fill, side Fill 2, and Rim light, and use white paper/posterboard for bounce light if one side feels too dark. But if things are overexposed, you can move the light sources away until the harshness dims down. I'm using a Olympus mirrorless camera (handed down to me by my sibling so i dont remember the model exactly), which can connect to my phone as a remote so I can avoid shaking the camera when i take photos. Pretty nifty for stopmotion purposes! (yes my camera stand is a stack of notebooks, a tissuebox and some eva foam under the lens, don't judge me)

Stopmotion animation:

I'm still figuring stopmo out on my part, but my process was straight ahead animation ... move the cloak a cm, take a pic.... move another cm, click.... and repeat until i get a version I was happy with. My ref was the cloak animation from Gris (beautiful game btw). The 2d star animation was also done straight ahead using procreate, exported in png with a transparent background, and finally stitched together with the stopmotion footage in photoshop.

My turnarounds are also stopmotion! also secret hack, the turntable is a fidget spinner sticky tacked to a cake platter.

And i think that's all! i mainly wanted to share how I go about thinking about taking a 2d concept and moving it to 3D. I also didn't go in depth into how to actually do the needle felting bc I don't think I''d be very helpful I'm a very good teacher by telling yall to just keep stabbing until it looks right (i'm self taught for this hobby),,, if anyone wants it though, i can share a bunch of tutorials and other felters' process that helped me learn more needle felting!

Hopefully this was helpful to someone! Feel free to send asks if ya got any questions or if anything needs clarification! Or show me your works! I love seeing other people's crafts :3

here have a cookie for making it this far 🥐

[matti2k2]

A Wants Tree Collection

Hi! So for the long time I've been using veronavillequiltingbee's Personal Wants Tree mod and I've pondered "could I ever make a Wants Tree of my own - without breaking them?" I've never actually tried too much because I wasn't too much tech savvy to mess with that kind of files, but then I saw Riftwalker's Wants Trees and saw a commenter want to combine that mod with Fewer Hobby Wants, so I said "why not?" and got to work reading tutorials and the like. Gladly, I ended up with a Wants Tree that I loved and also learnt a thing or two in the process!

This Want Tree file includes the following:

Riftwalker's Wants Tree

Go Steady Want for Adults and Elders*

Fixed Break Up Want for Teens, Adults and Elders; both for Steady and Marriage

New Family Member Want for Teens and Children of All Aspirations

University related Wants enabled for All Aspirations

Engagement Want and Left at Altar Fear enabled for All Aspirations

*You need another mod to enable those interactions. Mine only enables the want.

Note: I disabled Teen Woohoo wants for the most part. I still have the file without that feature as a backup so I can upload it if requested. Uploaded.

Lamare's Wants Tree

University Career Wants Enabled

Careers now roll based on Interests rather than Aspirations (Adults Only)

You may want to get Lamare's getUniCareerWithoutEducation from the original post. Or not.

SnorkackSearcher's Wants Tree

No Talk or Blog About Hobby Wants

Hobby Wants are Restricted by Personality

BellaDovah's Wants Tree (from her Discord server)

Adjusted Hustle Pool Want

midgethetree's Wants Tree

Anti-Vampirism Potion Want Disabled

Werewolf Howl Fear Disabled

daman19942's Wants Tree (not exactly a wants tree but a tutorial instead...?)

Reputation Wants Disabled

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

1. Backup your original WantTrees.package. This package is located at:

For the old-school version: EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Mansion and Garden Stuff\TSData\Res\Wants

For the new-school UC version: Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Fun with Pets\SP9\TSData\Res\Wants

2. Rename matti_WantTrees.package to just WantTrees.package.

3. Replace WantTrees.package in the game installation folder with the one you downloaded (not your Downloads folder).

KNOWN ISSUES

Engagement and Steady wants may roll at the same time.

Sims may roll Steady wants towards their spouses.

Teens may still get the 20 Woohoo LTW despite the wants being disabled. A workaround is to just reroll the LTW with a mod such as Sim Blender.

DOWNLOAD

SFS | MF

Teen Woohoo Ver.

SFS | MF

Shoutout to ShibaRulata, MandyMatos, aspirationfailure and sky in the Simscord server for giving me feedback when testing!

Screenshot by ShibaRulata

[sabertoothwalrus]

any art tips about writing funny scenarios? i feel like i understand drawing but ive been in a total writing rut, especially when it comes to comedy :/

I think the main thing to consider is What Is The Punchline.

Something I see often in beginner joke-writing is having too much after the punchline. You don't need to have character A dunk on character B, and then have characters C, D, & E all reacting to it. UNLESS the reaction is the punchline. Remember how funny vines were? A lot of that came from them being only 6 seconds, and often cut off at the end. The Abruptness can absolutely add to the timing.

The other main thing is that comedy = contrast. Yesterday was April Fool's Day, and something I was seeing a lot of people do (myself included) was make some kind of "announcement", and then say some variation of "haha sike!" The thing is, this only works if your audience could have realistically expected you to make that kind of announcement in the first place. If an artist who has been staunchly and vocally against AI art posts an AI image, then... that's not really a joke? Your followers will be confused, not only because you're acting out-of-character about an issue that's politically charged, but also because you're still using AI art.

My own version of this joke was to redraw an old comic, which is something I love doing! I love revisiting old media I used to like, and I love redrawing art to track my improvement. My followers (hopefully) know this about me. The twist was that the comic I redrew was voltron, specifically klance, because I have the experience to know this would give a lot of people a lot of whiplash. Even after almost 9 years, just simply seeing the characters was enough to send people careening into a weird spiral of nostalgia and fear for my sanity, because of how controversial the show and its fanbase had become. But since most of the controversy was because of extremely-online drama, it was ultimately harmless (and people that are genuinely still into the show got some new art for it teehee!) I'm going to use a recent comic I did as a another example.

^ this is a comic about Ace Attorney, but honestly you don't really need to know anything about Ace Attorney except that "7yg" is a shorthand the fandom used for "7 year gap".

Panel 1: Setting the expectation. it's during the pandemic, so it's normal for people to have hand sanitizer on them. A precedence has been established.

Panel 2: Additional Context. Phoenix rummages through his pockets, which tells the audience he has a lot of stuff in them, and that he's identifying objects more by touch than by sight.

Panel 3: Anticipation

Panel 4: The punchline! Oops, it was lube! Small bottles of lube DO look & feel very similar to bottles of hand sanitizer, but people-- especially during a global pandemic-- do not typically carry small bottles of lube on them. Personally, I think Phoenix Wright could be the kind of person to have lube on him (for any number of sexual or non-sexual reasons), but the audience doesn't necessarily need to know that about him. Part of the joke is the nonchalance in his reaction; all you need to know is that Phoenix himself is not that surprised or embarrassed about having lube with him, or about having just dispensed some of it into his friend's hands.

Comedy is hard to explain!! It's also not very funny to explain. It really takes a lot of practice, and everyone has different tastes in humor/context/expectations anyway, so you're never going to make everyone laugh. Knowing your audience will definitely help.

[damienns]

My GIF Making process: Screen capturing using MPV player, Organizing files, 3 Sharpening settings, Basic Coloring PSD + Actions set

This is a very long post so heads up.

I’ll try to be as thorough and true as much as possible to the way I make my gifs (I already use Photoshop Actions which I’ve long since set up but now for this tutorial I’m reviewing them to show you the exact steps I’ve learned to create my gifs 😃) and present them to you in a semi-coherent way. Also, please bear with me since English is my second language.

First things first. Below are the things and tools we need to do this:

Downloaded 4K or 1080p quality videos (let’s all assume we know where to get these—especially for high definition movies and tv series—so this post doesn’t get removed, okay? 😛)

Adobe Photoshop CC or the CS versions can work as well, but full disclosure I haven’t created gifs using the CS versions since 2020. I’m currently using Adobe Photoshop 2024.

mpv player. Use mpv player to get those frames/screenshots or any other video player that has a screen grabber feature. I’ve used adapter for the longest time but I’ve switched to mpv because the press to screenshot feature while the video is playing has been a game changer not to mention ultimate time saver for me. For adapter you need to play it in another video player (like VLC player), to get the start and end timestamps of the scene you want to gif which takes me ages before I can even open Photoshop.

Anyway! Please stop reading this post for a moment and head over to this amazing tutorial by kylos. She perfectly tells you how to install and use mpv player, both for Mac and Windows users.

One thing I have to share though, I had a tough time when I updated my MacOS to Sonoma since MPV is suddenly either duplicating frames or when I delete the duplicates the player seems to be skipping frames :/ I searched and found a solution here, though it didn’t work for me lol. My workaround for this in the meantime is decreasing the speed down to 0.70 then start screenshotting—it’s not the same pre Sonoma update but it works so I’ll have to accept it rather than have jumpy looking gifs.

Now, after this part of kylos’ tutorial:

you can continue reading the following sections of my gif tutorial below.

I want to share this little tip (sorry, this will only cater to Mac users) that I hope will be helpful for organizing the screenshots that MPV saved to the folder you have selected. Because believe me you don’t want to go through 1k+ of screenshots to select just 42-50 frames for your gif.

The Control + Command + N shortcut

This shortcut allows you to create a new folder from files you have pre-selected. As you can see below I have already created a couple of folders, and inside each folder I have selected screenshots that I want to include in one single gif. It's up to you how you want to divide yours, assuming you intend to create and post a Tumblr gifset rather than just one gif.

Another tip is making use of tags. Most of, if not all the time, I make supercorp gifs so I tag blue for Kara and red (or green) for Lena—just being ridiculously on brand and all that.

Before we finally open Photoshop, there's one more thing I want to say—I know, please bear with me for the third? fourth? time 😅

It's helpful to organize everything into their respective folders so you know the total number of items/frames you have. This way, you can add or delete excess or unnecessary shots before uploading them in Photoshop.

For example below there are 80 screenshots of Kara inside this folder and for a 1:1 (540 x 540 px) Tumblr gif, Photoshop can just work around with 42-50 max number of frames with color adjustments applied before it exceeds the 10 MB file size limit of Tumblr.

Sometimes I skip this step because it can be exhausting (haha) and include everything so I can decide visually which frames to keep later on. You'll understand what I mean later on. But it's important to keep the Tumblr 10 MB file size limit in mind. Fewer frames, or just the right amount of frames, is better.

So, with the screenshot organization out of the way, let's finally head over to Photoshop.

Giffing in Photoshop, yay!

Let’s begin by navigating to File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack…

The Load Layers window will appear. Click the Browse button next.

Find your chosen screenshots folder, press Command + A to select all files from that folder then click Open. Then click OK.

After importing and stacking your files, Photoshop should display the following view:

By the way, I'll be providing the clip I've used in this tutorial so if want to use them to follow along be my guest :)

If you haven't already opened your Timeline panel, navigate to Windows > Timeline.

Now, let's focus on the Timeline panel for the next couple of steps.

Click Create Video Timeline, then you’ll have this:

Now click the menu icon on the top right corner then go to Convert Frames > Make Frames from Clips

Still working on the Timeline panel, click the bottom left icon this time—the icon with the three tiny boxes—to Convert to Frame Animation

Select Make Frames From Layers from the top right corner menu button.

So now you have this:

Go and click the top right menu icon again to Select All Frames

Then click the small dropdown icon to set another value for Frame Delay. Select Other…

The best for me and for most is 0.05 but you can always play around and see what you think works for you.

Click the top right menu icon again to Reverse Frames.

I think Photoshop has long since fixed this issue but usually the first animation frame is empty so I just delete it but now going through all these steps there seems to be none of that but anyways, the delete icon is the last one among the line of feature buttons at the bottom part of the Timeline panel.

Yay, now we can have our first proper GIF preview of a thirsty Lena 😜

Press spacebar to watch your gif play for the very first time! After an hour and half of selecting and cutting off screenshots! 😛 Play it some more. No really, I’m serious. I do this so even as early (lol) as this part in the gif making process, I can see which frames I can/should delete to be within the 10 MB file size limit. You can also do it at the end of course 🙂

Now, let’s go to the next important steps of this tutorial post which I’ve numbered below.

Crop and resize to meet Tumblr's required dimensions. The width value should be either 540px, 268px, or 177px.

Convert the gif to a Smart Object for sharpening.

Apply lighting and basic color adjustments before the heavy coloring. I will be sharing the base adjustments layers I use for my gifs 😃.

1. Crop and Resize

Click on the Crop tool (shortcut: the C key)

I like my GIFs big so I always set this to 1:1 ratio if the scene allows it. Press the Enter key after selecting the area of the frame that you want to keep.

Side note: If you find that after cropping, you want to adjust the image to the left or another direction, simply unselect the Delete Cropped Pixels option. This way, you will still have the whole frame area available to crop again as needed and as you prefer.

Now we need to resize our gif and the shortcut for that is Command + Opt + I. Type in 540 as the width measurement, then the height will automatically change to follow the ratio you’ve set while cropping.

540 x 540 px for 1:1

540 x 405 px for 4:3

540 x 304 px for 16:9

For the Resample value I prefer Bilinear—but you can always select the other options to see what you like best.

Click OK. Then Command + 0 and Command + - to properly view the those 540 pixels.

Now we get to the exciting part :) the sharpen settings!

2. Sharpen

First we need to have all these layers “compressed” intro a single smart object from which we can apply filters to.

Select this little button on the the bottom left corner of the Timeline panel.

Select > All Layers

Then go to Filter > Convert for Smart Filters

Just click OK when a pop-up shows up.

Now you should have this view on the Layers panel:

Now I have 3 sharpen settings to share but I’ll have download links to the Action packs at the end of this long ass tutorial so if you want to skip ahead, feel free to do so.

Sharpen v1

Go to Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen…

Below are my settings. I don’t adjust anything under Shadows/Highlights.

Amount: 500

Radius: 0.4

Click OK then do another Smart Sharpen but this time with the below adjustments.

Amount: 12

Radius: 10.0

As you can see Lena’s beautiful eyes are “popping out” now with these filters applied. Click OK.

Now we need to Convert to Frame Animation. Follow the steps below.

Click on the menu icon at the top right corner of the Timeline panel, then click Convert Frames > Flatten Frames into Clips

Then Convert Frames > Convert to Frame Animation

One more click to Make Frames From Layers

Delete the first frame then Select All then Set Frame Delay to 0.05

and there you have it! Play your GIF and make sure it’s just around 42-50 frames. This is the time to select and delete.

To preview and save your GIF go to File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy)…

Below are my Export settings. Make sure to have the file size around 9.2 MB to 9.4 MB max and not exactly 10 MB.

This time I got away with 55 frames but this is because I haven’t applied lighting and color adjustments yet and not to mention the smart sharpen settings aren't to heavy so let’s take that into consideration.

Sharpen v1 preview:

Sharpen v2

Go back to this part of the tutorial and apply the v2 settings.

Smart Sharpen 1:

Amount: 500

Radius: 0.3

Smart Sharpen 2:

Amount: 20

Radius: 0.5

We’re adding a new type of Filter which is Reduce Noise (Filter > Noise > Reduce Noise...) with the below settings.

Then one last Smart Sharpen:

Amount: 500

Radius: 0.3

Your Layers panel should look like this:

Then do the Convert to Frames Animation section again and see below preview.

Sharpen v2 preview:

Sharpen v3:

Smart Sharpen 1:

Amount: 500

Radius: 0.4

Smart Sharpen 2:

Amount: 12

Radius: 10.0

Reduce Noise:

Strength: 5

Preserve Details: 50%

Reduce Color Noise: 0%

Sharpen Details: 50%

Sharpen v3 preview:

And here they are next to each other with coloring applied:

v1

v2

v3

Congratulations, you've made it to the end of the post 😂

As promised, here is the download link to all the files I used in this tutorial which include:

supercorp 2.05 Crossfire clip

3 PSD files with sharpen settings and basic coloring PSD

Actions set

As always, if you're feeling generous here's my Ko-fi link :) Thank you guys and I hope this tutorial will help you and make you love gif making.

P.S. In the next post I'll be sharing more references I found helpful especially with coloring. I just have to search and gather them all.

-Jill

[jadeharleyinc]

the scale of AI's ecological footprint

standalone version of my response to the following:

"you need soulless art? [...] why should you get to use all that computing power and electricity to produce some shitty AI art? i don’t actually think you’re entitled to consume those resources." "i think we all deserve nice things. [...] AI art is not a nice thing. it doesn’t meaningfully contribute to us thriving and the cost in terms of energy use [...] is too fucking much. none of us can afford to foot the bill." "go watch some tv show or consume some art that already exists. […] you know what’s more environmentally and economically sustainable […]? museums. galleries. being in nature."

you can run free and open source AI art programs on your personal computer, with no internet connection. this doesn't require much more electricity than running a resource-intensive video game on that same computer. i think it's important to consume less. but if you make these arguments about AI, do you apply them to video games too? do you tell Fortnite players to play board games and go to museums instead?

speaking of museums: if you drive 3 miles total to a museum and back home, you have consumed more energy and created more pollution than generating AI images for 24 hours straight (this comes out to roughly 1400 AI images). "being in nature" also involves at least this much driving, usually. i don't think these are more environmentally-conscious alternatives.

obviously, an AI image model costs energy to train in the first place, but take Stable Diffusion v2 as an example: it took 40,000 to 60,000 kWh to train. let's go with the upper bound. if you assume ~125g of CO2 per kWh, that's ~7.5 tons of CO2. to put this into perspective, a single person driving a single car for 12 months emits 4.6 tons of CO2. meanwhile, for example, the creation of a high-budget movie emits 2840 tons of CO2.

is the carbon cost of a single car being driven for 20 months, or 1/378th of a Marvel movie, worth letting anyone with a mid-end computer, anywhere, run free offline software that consumes a gaming session's worth of electricity to produce hundreds of images? i would say yes. in a heartbeat.

even if you see creating AI images as "less soulful" than consuming Marvel/Fortnite content, it's undeniably "more useful" to humanity as a tool. not to mention this usefulness includes reducing the footprint of creating media. AI is more environment-friendly than human labor on digital creative tasks, since it can get a task done with much less computer usage, doesn't commute to work, and doesn't eat.

and speaking of eating, another comparison: if you made an AI image program generate images non-stop for every second of every day for an entire year, you could offset your carbon footprint by… eating 30% less beef and lamb. not pork. not even meat in general. just beef and lamb.

the tech industry is guilty of plenty of horrendous stuff. but when it comes to the individual impact of AI, saying "i don’t actually think you’re entitled to consume those resources. do you need this? is this making you thrive?" to an individual running an AI program for 45 minutes a day per month is equivalent to questioning whether that person is entitled to a single 3 mile car drive once per month or a single meatball's worth of beef once per month. because all of these have the same CO2 footprint.

so yeah. i agree, i think we should drive less, eat less beef, stream less video, consume less. but i don't think we should tell people "stop using AI programs, just watch a TV show, go to a museum, go hiking, etc", for the same reason i wouldn't tell someone "stop playing video games and play board games instead". i don't think this is a productive angle.

(sources and number-crunching under the cut.)

good general resource: GiovanH's article "Is AI eating all the energy?", which highlights the negligible costs of running an AI program, the moderate costs of creating an AI model, and the actual indefensible energy waste coming from specific companies deploying AI irresponsibly.

CO2 emissions from running AI art programs: a) one AI image takes 3 Wh of electricity. b) one AI image takes 1mn in, for example, Midjourney. c) so if you create 1 AI image per minute for 24 hours straight, or for 45 minutes per day for a month, you've consumed 4.3 kWh. d) using the UK electric grid through 2024 as an example, the production of 1 kWh releases 124g of CO2. therefore the production of 4.3 kWh releases 533g (~0.5 kg) of CO2.

CO2 emissions from driving your car: cars in the EU emit 106.4g of CO2 per km. that's 171.19g for 1 mile, or 513g (~0.5 kg) for 3 miles.

costs of training the Stable Diffusion v2 model: quoting GiovanH's article linked in 1. "Generative models go through the same process of training. The Stable Diffusion v2 model was trained on A100 PCIe 40 GB cards running for a combined 200,000 hours, which is a specialized AI GPU that can pull a maximum of 300 W. 300 W for 200,000 hours gives a total energy consumption of 60,000 kWh. This is a high bound that assumes full usage of every chip for the entire period; SD2’s own carbon emission report indicates it likely used significantly less power than this, and other research has shown it can be done for less." at 124g of CO2 per kWh, this comes out to 7440 kg.

CO2 emissions from red meat: a) carbon footprint of eating plenty of red meat, some red meat, only white meat, no meat, and no animal products the difference between a beef/lamb diet and a no-beef-or-lamb diet comes down to 600 kg of CO2 per year. b) Americans consume 42g of beef per day. this doesn't really account for lamb (egads! my math is ruined!) but that's about 1.2 kg per month or 15 kg per year. that single piece of 42g has a 1.65kg CO2 footprint. so our 3 mile drive/4.3 kWh of AI usage have the same carbon footprint as a 12g piece of beef. roughly the size of a meatball [citation needed].

[loveriotss]

hihi! Are you planning to do a shoto version of the bf texts + headcanons?? If yes I'd request you to do it I love him sm 😭😭

Also I loveee your acc so much!! <3

HCS + TXTS WITH HIM AS YOUR BOYFRIEND ⸻ shoto todoroki

INCLUDES — gn! reader, fluff, crack, headcannons, social media au

main masterlist — mha masterlist ༊*·˚

: ̗̀➛ click here to read other character versions

so nice but super oblivious 😓.

i fear he is yet another victim to brainrot misinformation.

really tries his best to understand your references but always ends up using it in the most outrageous situations.

will check up on you throughout the day, making sure you've eaten good food and drank enough water.

likes to use those drawn reaction pictures for fun.

he is also one of those people who got really popular after the sports festival.

his performance + him being the number 1 hero's son made him gain a lot of attraction.

so yes, it's not surprising to find edits of him on your fyp (not that you're complaining).

he doesn't get it though.

his dates are always thought out. cute little picnic dates, visits to places you've mentioned to him or baking dates.

he loves them all though, as long as you two are together he will have a fun time doing anything.

his social media is very nonchalantish, has a bit of a following because of his reputation as being placed second in the infamous sports festival and of course being the son of japan's top hero (even though he has blocked endeavor).

his page is mostly filled with small ootds or snippets of places he's been too (most of the time you're spotted somewhere in the picture).

does not care about who can or can not see his profile and will happily post you there.

NOTE — hi nonnie 1, ty for the compliment! nonnie 2, i got your request as i was gonna start working on this lolol. hope you both like it <3

©loveriotss — all rights reserved to me. please don’t try to copy/steal my work. please do not use any of my ideas/translate my work without my permission.

[commodorez]

Start Me Up: 30 years of Windows 95 - @commodorez and @ms-dos5

Okay, last batch of photos from our exhibit, and I wanted to highlight a few details because so much planning and preparation went into making this the ultimate Windows 95 exhibit. And now you all have to hear about it.

You'll note software boxes from both major versions of Windows 95 RTM (Release To Manufacturing, the original version from August 24, 1995): the standalone version "for PCs without Windows", and the Upgrade version "for users of Windows". We used both versions when setting up the machines you see here to show the variety of install types people performed. My grandpa's original set of install floppies was displayed in a little shadowbox, next to a CD version, and a TI 486DX2-66 microprocessor emblazoned with "Designed for Microsoft Windows 95".

The machines on display, from left to right include:

Chicago Beta 73g on a custom Pentium 1 baby AT tower

Windows 95 RTM on an AST Bravo LC 4/66d desktop

Windows 95 RTM on a (broken) Compaq LTE Elite 4/75cx laptop

Windows 95 OSR 1 on an Intertel Pentium 1 tower

Windows 95 OSR 1 on a VTEL Pentium 1 desktop

Windows 95 OSR 2 on a Toshiba Satellite T1960CT laptop

Windows 95 OSR 2 on a Toshiba Libretto 70CT subnotebook

Windows 95 OSR 2 on an IBM Thinkpad 760E laptop

Windows 95 OSR 2.5 on a custom Pentium II tower (Vega)

That's alot of machines that had to be prepared for the exhibit, so for all of them to work (minus the Compaq) was a relief. Something about the trip to NJ rendered the Compaq unstable, and it refused to boot consistently. I have no idea what happened because it failed in like 5 different steps of the process.

The SMC TigerHub TP6 nestled between the Intertel and VTEL served as the network backbone for the exhibit, allowing 6 machines to be connected over twisted pair with all the multicolored network cables. However, problems with PCMCIA drivers on the Thinkpad, and the Compaq being on the blink meant only 5 machines were networked. Vega was sporting a CanoScan FS2710 film scanner connected via SCSI, which I demonstrated like 9 times over the course of the weekend -- including to LGR!

Game controllers were attached to computers where possible, and everything with a sound card had a set of era-appropriate speakers. We even picked out a slew of mid-90s mouse pads, some of which were specifically Windows 95 themed. We had Zip disks, floppy disks, CDs full of software, and basically no extra room on the tables. Almost every machine had a different screensaver, desktop wallpaper, sound scheme, and UI theme, showing just how much was user customizable.

@ms-dos5 made a point to have a variety of versions of Microsoft Office products on the machines present, meaning we had everything from stand-alone copies of Word 95 and Excel 95, thru complete MS Office 95 packages (standard & professional), MS Office 97 (standard & professional), Publisher, Frontpage, & Encarta.

We brought a bunch of important books about 95 too:

The Windows Interface Guidelines for Software Design

Microsoft Windows 95 Resource Kit

Hardware Design Guide for Windows 95

Inside Windows 95 by Adrian King

Just off to the right, stacked on top of some boxes was an Epson LX-300+II dot matrix printer, which we used to create all of the decorative banners, and the computer description cards next to each machine. Fun fact -- those were designed to mimic the format and style of 95's printer test page! We also printed off drawings for a number of visitors, and ended up having more paper jams with the tractor feed mechanism than we had Blue Screen of Death instances.

In fact, we only had 3 BSOD's total, all weekend, one of which was expected, and another was intentional on the part of an attendee.

We also had one guy install some shovelware/garbageware on the AST, which caused all sorts of errors, that was funny!

Thanks for coming along on this ride, both @ms-dos5 and I appreciate everyone taking the time to enjoy our exhibit.

It's now safe to turn off your computer.

VCF East XX

[a-killer-obsession]

OKAY I DID IT, I FIGURED OUT THE LAYOUT

Disclaimer: it seems like the size of the ship changes every time we see it, but the newest eps vs wano seem pretty consistent so I went with that and used Wire's height for scale

Floor layouts under the cut ✂️

Edit: you can find clearer/more detailed versions here

Layout based on the 31 member crew that Oda confirmed. I also took in to account that a significant portion of the members are fucking massive, so everything is bigger which matches the scale it's drawn in. Floors are approx 5m high with 2m wide doors in most places, which makes sense when a good portion of the crew are 3m tall.

Sorry about my handwritting lmao I'm so tired but I have serious brainworms and couldn't sleep

The specifics:

Kid's Floor

Of course he has his own floor

Quarters include his own private dining space which I imagine would also include a workdesk, bedroom with king sized bed and probably a couch, walk in closet, and bathroom definitely large enough for a massive tub

Workshop also has bathroom entrance for when he's feelin lazy

Ladder space in the middle goes straight through, this is so crew going to the castle deck don't access his floor

Commander's floor

Heat, Wire and Killer have their own rooms and a private lounge just for them and Kid

Heat and Wire share a large bathroom, definitely big enough for normal bath

Heat and Killer have king sized beds, Wire's bed is almost as wide as a king but mostly it's made especially long

Small decking that runs the whole way around, unspoken rule that crew aren't allowed there since windows peer into commander's rooms

Killer could probably fit a drumkit in his room 👀

Cannon Deck

We get peeks of this in the anime and in Oda's notes but they're fuzzy so I just did my best

Made a mistake tho, cannon platform should be whole way around back like a U shape to account for 3 cannons facing backwards, total 9 cannons

Theoretically this is where the helm should be so uh that's where I put it

Screenshots make it look like they also store a lot of other weapons here

Main deck

Forecastle includes navigation room with bookcases, central table, and desk for paperwork

Forecastle also has infirmary with two longer than normal beds to account for larger crewmates, and a desk for crew doctor to keep notes

Door between nav and infirmary cos Kid is lazy

Kitchen and pantry. Given the rooms are 5m from floor to ceiling I imagine that pantry would have a small mezzanine accessed by a ladder to take advantage of vertical space (and would be a sick place to nap)

Galley/dining hall contains 3 bench style tables, seating 10 large crewmates each, with one extra fancy chair at the end of one for Kid

Lower deck

Did my best to do some math to figure out how many larger than normal beds were required and decided on 6 bunks for 12 larger crewmates

Additional rooms for average sized crewmates include 4 rooms with 2 bunks each, and one room with 1 bunk, making for a total of 30 beds below deck. That means, counting the commanders for the 31, there are currently 3 empty beds, so a few rooms aren't complete full

Probably looks like fuck all space but its actually significant for a ship living quarters

According to google you only need 1 toilet per 10 people and 1 shower per 40 but that seems like BS. Bathroom has 4 large, accessible sized toilets, 4 showers, long benches down the center and a long counter with plenty of space and mirrors for makeup, given how many crewmates wear it

Also, storage room. Could be converted to extra room for another bunk

Hold

Access via ladder

4 cells. No toilets, you get a bucket ✌️ tbh might not even have beds but there's room for em anyway

Desk in case they need to keep an eye on prisoners

3 storage rooms, but i think one of these would actually be a torture room. Probably the one by the desk.

Mechanisms for power and water are probably in one of these rooms as well as a lot of materials for ship repairs

Also of note

Crows nest is definitely big enough for a bench, definitely big enough for... activities. Not as big as the Sunny's though I dont think a gym would fit, I think it'd be more likely that gym equipment is kept on the cannon deck

Idk if the mizzenmast is supposed to go all the way through but that physically can't happen with where the helm needs to be based on screenshots so ✌️

Crows nests are definitely access via climbing nets

Please absolutely feel free to use this as a reference for fanfictions, but I'd appreciate a shout out if you do 💖

[jikooklove9795]

Hi,

I just wanted to ask if white day is a special day for Jikook

I’ve seen all sorts of posts today but couldn’t grasp the timeline? Has it only been since 2022 that they’ve done something that is known?

Cheers

Hi Anon 😊

Before we dive into this post, let's first see what White Day is.

In South Korea, March 14th is celebrated as White Day, exactly one moth after Valentine's Day. In SK Valentines Day is traditionally focused on women. It is the woman who express her love for her man through gifts. And on White Day the man who received gifts on Valentine's Day is expected to return the favor with gifts of his own.

So, basically White Day is considered as an important day for couples in SK.

On 14th March 2022, White Day, Jimin opens his IG and posts a pic of him and Jungkook backstage during their PTD concerts:

As expected it sent us into chaos, a happy delightful chaos. But it didn't stop there. Later we found out that Jikook went out for dinner on White Day joined by Jimin's friends.

Not only that but in the restaurant pic we couldn't help but notice Jungkook wearing a cap that most likely belonged to Jimin. The one that has "Jimin" written on the back. Just another detail adding to the Jikook filled night.

And just when we thought that was it, Jikook dropped the biggest bomb with the release of the BTS Monuments documentary. That's when we finally got the whole picture.

On March 13th 2022, just two hours after their concert, Jungkook arrives at Jimin's apartment. We know this from the date displayed on Jimin's fridge. Jimin orders fried chicken for them and Jungkook also cooks them dinner. They spend the night together. And the next day, which is White Day they head out for dinner together from Jimin's apartment.

Most jkkrs here, myself included believe that Jikook have been living together for a long time now. So, hearing and seeing all of this? Not exactly surprising, just one more proof of what we already knew.

Now let's move on to 2023.

On March 14th 2023 Jungkook went live from his home when Jimin was in the US for his FACE promotions. This live has 4 parts. Should've known who this live was meant for when Jungkook started the live at 8:11 pm KST. The songs for this live are heavily Jikook coded.

1) Jungkook played There For You, a song which he used for his first ever GCF, which was basically all about Jimin.

2) He also sang the Korean version of Mistletoe (Christmas Day) for which Jimin wrote the lyrics and which Jikook covered back in 2014.

3) Then there's Nothing by Bruno Major. In 2020 Taehyung posted a selca of him and Jimin under which he mentioned this song saying that it was Jimin's recommendation. Then in 2022 when Jimin was asked to pick a song for the ending credits of a documentary about him he again chose Nothing saying that the mood of the song goes well with him.

4) How can we forget Hate Everything? Jungkook posted a cover of this song on 3rd Feb 2022. The cover was 1:18 mins long (there's that number again). This was the time when Jimin was receiving in patient treatment following his surgery. And Jungkook had to stay away from him due to covid protocols. And then in 2023 he again plays this song when Jimin's away from him, this time due to his schedule.

5) The next song is Falling. This is a song both Jimin and Jungkook like. Jungkook posted a cover of this song on 28th Oct 2022. And guess what's special about 28th Oct? Well, Jikook went on their Tokyo trip on 28th Oct 2017. (Numbers are not a joke when it comes to Jikook. They give importance to special dates, milestones in their relationship).

Jimin comments during the second part of this White Day live. His presence was so significant throughout the live. Though he was not physically present his presence was still felt, thanks to Jungkook.

Jungkook also flexed his JM tattoo which was noticeably darker than the rest while JVKE's Golden Hour was playing in the background. He followed it up with the lyrics "Love of my life". HE'S A CERTIFIED ROMANTIC!!! (only for Jimin).

During this live he changes his outfit 2 times. Starts with a black jacket, then changes to a white shirt and then finally a purple hoodie. Ends the live by asking us to look forward to midnight saying that something amazing is dropping at midnight. And we all know how it went... SMF pt2 teaser came out. Not to forget that he also teased Jimin's song using his hair tie.

For SMF pt2 Jimin uses 3 outfits. A black jacket and a white sweater for the main mv and a purple jacket for the dance practice video.

Can it be a coincidence? Sure. But what are the chances of their outfit colors being in that exact same order, right when SMF pt2 was dropping? Most of the time Jikook and "coincidence" doesn't go hand in hand and this was one of those times.

So, these are the two times Jikook was loud on White Day.

But here's an honorable mention. It was on 14th March 2016:

Jungkook took this video of a sleepy Jimin and posted it with the caption "Jimin hyung is sleepy, someone please put him to sleep".

So, yes! White Day is a special day for Jikook. But it's not just White Day, we have also seen how much importance they place on spending their birthdays together and how much effort they put into it.

Jungkook left the entire fandom in shock by going all out for Jimin's birthday. Booking a trip to Tokyo, taking him to Disneyland and even creating a GCF to immortalize the moment, all for the world to see and scream over. Just when we thought that was the peak of effort Jimin proved once again that they match each other's energy. He took a 13 hour flight from Paris to Seoul just so he wouldn't miss his bf's birthday, arriving with exclusive limited edition gifts in hand. And as if that wasn't enough he even teamed up with Hoseok to arrange a surprise party. And just one look at Jungkook's face in that pic proves how much it meant to him.

And then in 2020 we learned that Jimin and Jungkook were together at home on Jungkook's birthday. The next day Jimin even prepared a cake to celebrate.

We have also seen them spending special couple days together.

Like wearing matching jackets on Valentine's Day. And watching the first snow together, which again is a couple tradition in SK. It signifies fresh beginnings leading to a lasting relationship

Or posting this on Chinese Valentine's Day with the caption "Love Ya ❤"

Or show up on 14th January 2018 which is Diary Day in SK again an important day for couples by wearing matching rings

I almost forgot about Chuseok. Its a family holiday in SK.

This was their first "couple" moment for Chuseok:

This is from the Chuseok of 2016.

For 2017's Chuseok, while everyone went home to celebrate the festival Jikook stayed back together at the dorm.

They posted this at 4am on the Chuseok of 2020:

And then Jimin posted the fish drawing for 2023's Chuseok with the caption " JK's work 😅" which we saw both of them talking about and drawing in AYS Jeju.

Then there's Silver Day. This pic was posted by Jungkook on Silver Day with the caption "Jimin hyung's big smile" (14th July 2019)

On Silver Day couples exchange silver accessories as a sign of their love and commitment.

Hoseok's JITB Party was on Silver Day. And there was Jimin casually wearing his Maison Margeila necklace along with the bracelet from Polyc, the very same one that unsurprisingly Jungkook also owns.

But what makes the Maison Margeila necklace special? Well he owns the one with numbers ranging from 10 to 16 and guess which number is circled? Number 11

So let's take out 11 and add all the other numbers:

10+12+13+14+15+16

We get 80

And then have 11

Together it becomes 11/8 tada 😮

So, yeah that makes it extra special for him

2023's Silver Day was a major moment in the Jikook world. Jimin boarded a flight from Seoul just to be with Jungkook who was swamped with preparations for his solo debut performance in the US. Despite the packed schedule they made time for each other, stepping out in matching black and white outfits for dinner on the same day Jimin arrived. They returned to the same restaurant again this time with no cameras, no staff just the two of them before Jimin had to fly back home.

This one isn't about a designated couple's day but its still incredibly significant. Recently K side went into a frenzy upon discovering that Jimin and Jungkook sent a joint flower wreath, something typically done by couples. They were the only individuals who sent one together.

You might have noticed how Jimin and Jungkook follow a pattern, they don't just do these things once they repeat them over the years. But we only find out when they choose to let us know or when it slips through company content. Its clear they value these traditions and make a conscious effort to spend them together. What we see is probably a fraction maybe a quarter of it. But just because we don't see everything it doesn't mean it isn't happening.

Thanks so much for this ask, Anon! I loved answering this! Have an awesome day 👋🏻

Credits to the owner of the video

[librarygarten]

#3 Chain x Speedrunner! Deity! Isekai! Reader - Who's in Control?

Part 3 includes Wind, Hyrule, and Time Part 1 ✿ Part 2 ✿ Part 3 (you are here)

When you first fell through the portal and joined the chain on their quest, you had revealed that they were only stories in your world. It had taken a while for them to understand the concept of a video game, and even longer for them to come to terms with the fact that some of the most traumatic events of their lives were reduced to children’s entertainment. However, as they talked with you, they came to another horrifying discovery: YOU were their “player.” Your actions in your world, the decisions you made while playing the games, directly influenced their own lives. What’s more, you were a speedrunner.

Wind

“No way, I’m super good at swimming!” Wind cried, trying to win some competition among the boys you hadn’t been paying attention to. “On my adventure, I could swim between islands that would normally take days to get to with a boat in just a few seconds!”

Oh. Now that got your attention.

“Wind, that was a glitch. I don’t think you can repeat that now that I’m not playing your game.” You nervously pipe up. The rest of the chain nod in agreement. Obviously Wind shouldn’t be able to do that. Of couse it was your interference making physics weird again. Wind, whose pride was now on the line, was less inclined to agree with you.

“No way! I didn’t even feel you controlling me back then!” He crosses his arms and stands taller, indignant at the mere idea he couldn’t catapult himself through the water. “I bet I can still do it! I remember exactly what I did and everything!”

“Okay. Prove it.” Legend smirks. “Twenty rupees says you can’t.” Some of the other boys also add their own money to the betting ring, and soon enough Wind is standing on the shore of a lake the group had found. Time had a suspicion it was a version of his Lake Hylia, but there were no people around to prove his theory.

“Just you watch.” Wind mutters to himself, taking out his Wind Waker. He holds it as if about to conduct and walks into the water. Nothing happens for a moment, and some of the boys start celebrating their winnings. Then, Wind suddenly shoots away across the lake, as if he had a rocket strapped to his back. He faceplants into an island in the middle of the lake.

“Oh my gosh.” You gasp. You turn to look at the rest of the group, some of which still have their mouths hanging open. Wind struts up next to you, soaking wet, with a proud smile on his face.

“Told you I could do it.” He holds his hand out to the rest of the chain. “Now pay up.”

Hyrule

The dungeon you had found yourselves in was dark and cramped. The narrow hallways and twisting, maze-like corridors made it nearly impossible to swing a sword. Not ideal, but this was a group composed of the heroes of Hyrule. They could certainly handle the challenge. But they weren’t used to working in a team. Elbows bumped. Boomerangs knocked each other out of the air. To put it bluntly, the group was an absolute mess. Splitting up seemed like the best option. Which was how you ended up alone with Hyrule.

“This place is giving me the creeps.” You shudder. You weren’t used to seeing dungeons from a first-person perspective. The shadows seemed much more threatening, somehow.

“It’ll be fine.” Hyrule smiles reassuringly. “Just be careful moving between rooms. Sometimes, things change when you aren’t looking.”

“What?” You stare at him, racking your brain, trying and failing to remember what on earth he could be talking about. Enemy respawns? Puzzle resets?

“Yeah, doors can unlock themselves sometimes.” He shrugs, as if this were simply a fact of life. “The first ever dungeon I entered, I left it right away and then went back inside. The previously locked door was just… open.”

“Hyrule, that was a glitch.” You deadpan. “I did that to get through the dungeon faster, but the developers never meant for that to happen, and your game is the only one that has something like that.”

“Oh,” he blushes, “Then I guess we don’t need to worry about that here.”

“Yeah. We might be able to cheese some enemies by stun locking them, though.”

“...Cheese???”

Time

It was a nice day. The group had landed in Time’s era, and had taken to exploring Castle Town, restocking and relaxing. You were trying your hand at the slingshot minigame when you felt a hand on your shoulder.

“What happened to the Know-It-All Brother?” Time asks you. He looked about as tired as you felt. You tilt your head, puzzled. Was he asking about their fate? Why did he care about them and not, like, Saria or Mido? You have only the vaguest of ideas about what he’s asking, but try to answer regardless.

“The Know-It-All Brothers only appear in your game. That’s the only game Kokiri in general appear in.” You almost end your explanation there, but quickly think better of it. “In Wind Waker, the Deku tree says the Kokiri turned into Koroks, but none of them have the same names as the Kokiri. Doesn’t mean they’re gone, necessarily, the games just don’t show them again.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it.” Time pinches the bridge of his nose. He sounds like a dad, and you just disappointed him. “What happened to the Know-It-All Brother I backflipped over as a kid? The one that disappeared? That was you, right?”

Oh. Now you know. A common glitch for getting out of Kokiri Forest without needing to complete the Deku Tree dungeon. A well-placed flip, paired with some funky collision, made it possible to make the Kokiri blocking the way to Hyrule Field clip though the bottom of the map.

“Wait. He’s gone? Doesn’t he show back up when you’re an adult?” Your throat feels tight. He was just an NPC. He appears in other places. You didn’t actually send him to the void, did you?

“So you do know what I’m talking about.” Time sighs. “Yes, he’s in Kokiri Forest when I returned seven years later. But I left that timeline, remember? When I was a kid, he disappeared and never came back.”

“Oh no.” You can feel the color drain from your face. Time watches you expectantly. “That’s a glitch to get to Hyrule Field faster. He falls though the map into the empty place below it. If he doesn’t come back, that means he’s been down there. But how would that work? Your world isn’t actually a game. There is no void around the map.” You speak faster and faster, trying to make sense of the situation. Time sighs, then motions for you to follow him.

“Come on. We can make it to the forest before dark. You put him there. You get him out.”

You yelp, trying to come up with an excuse. Sure, you may have controlled Link into glitching that poor kid through the floor, but you couldn’t do anything now. There was no way to reach him, and even if you could, then both of you would be stuck. The glare Time sends you makes any words die on your tongue. You follow him out the door.

[winterdaphne2]

Favorite Johnlock Fics (BBC Sherlock)

I went on a bit of a fic-reading spree this spring, and this list of favorites is the result! There are many other fics that I’ve enjoyed reading, but these are the ones that I’ve really loved for one reason or another.

I’ve tagged the authors whose tumblrs I could find. If that’s you, thank you so much for sharing your writing with us. If your work is on here, you wrote something that I really treasure.

1. A River Without Banks, by Chryse. E, 203,286 words. Starts right after Season 3. A mix of Sherlock’s perspective, John’s perspective, and the perspectives of other characters. Sherlock-focused for the first half.

Author’s summary: “‘You love this, being Sherlock Holmes.’ He had once. When had it all gone so wrong?”

This is my absolute favorite. The author’s characterization of Sherlock is amazingly accurate, and Sherlock’s character development over the course of the story is breathtakingly executed and moving. The plot is fantastic and takes you on a page-turning emotional roller coaster, especially for about the first half of the story. I was also continually impressed by how many details from the show and references to earlier parts of the fic the author was able to weave in throughout while still keeping the story creative and original. Most importantly, though, I love this fic for the message that it sends about Sherlock and John’s love, which is a far more positive message than the one that the actual show settled upon in the end. I’m grateful that we have this version of their love story, and, personally, I like to pretend that this was Season 4 and how the show ended.

2. Another Country, by Chryse. E, 67,414 words. Starts right after the end of TAB. Sherlock’s perspective.

Sherlock spends one month and three days under house arrest in 221B, trying to get clean from the drugs, track down the new Moriarty, and figure out what the hell is going on between him and John.

Another fantastic work by Chryse. This author really gets Sherlock’s character, and once again the characterization of Sherlock is spot-on and convincing. There are a few other elements that also make this a compelling story, including smart use of minor characters, a solid central mystery, and a complicated relationship between Sherlock and John that includes a pretty convincing post-Season-3 version of John. Excellent.

3. walk through ghosts, by @augustbird. M, 6,125 words. Written between Seasons 2 and 3. Sherlock’s perspective.

Author’s summary: “The thing is: Sherlock thought that the two of them would have forever to figure it out.”

This is the saddest fic I have ever read, and so beautifully written. The author captures Season 2 Sherlock’s character perfectly; the fact that this story feels so real is what makes it devastating. The day after I read this, I couldn’t stop thinking about it and walked around with my heart physically aching in my chest.

4. Nature and Nurture, by @earlgreytea68. M, 203,273 words. Set sometime after Season 2. Alternates between John’s and Sherlock’s perspectives, but mostly told from John’s.

The British government clones Sherlock. He and John decide to raise the baby.

A true fandom classic. The premise sounds super cracky, but somehow it really works. This fic is surprisingly serious at times, but overall it is the cutest and funniest thing I have ever read in my life. Basically 200,000+ words of Sherlock and John being adorable gay fathers together and working through some feelings, with line-by-line some of the most hilarious dialogue ever. The five accompanying ficlets that the author wrote as short follow-ups are also worth checking out; my favorites were School (T, 4,753 words) and The Radovljica Apicultural Museum (T, 4,540 words).

5. To a Friend Who Sent Me Roses, by @algyswinburne. E, 16,147 words. Set sometime after Season 4 (but ignores TFP, as we all should lol). Sherlock’s perspective.

Author’s summary: “Five times Sherlock is mistaken for John’s partner and Rosie’s father, and one time it isn’t a mistake.”

This fic is sad, sweet, and hot by turns. Absolutely lovely to read in so many ways, and with so many great details and lines. I think this story offers convincing portrayals of what Sherlock’s and John’s characters might be like after it all and how they might finally get together. This and A River Without Banks are my favorite alternate endings to the show. Beautiful!

6. for all that bitter delights will sour, by @darcylindbergh. E, 9,585 words. Set sometime after Season 3. Sherlock’s perspective.

John initiates a sexually and emotionally abusive relationship with Sherlock.

The second saddest fic I have read. I would never want what happens in this fic to happen to Sherlock and John, so I don’t exactly recommend it as a Johnlock fic. But as a short story, this is a gem, full of absolutely gorgeous and incredibly moving writing. It depicts difficult themes very deftly, in lines and paragraphs that I had to stop to read over and over. I appreciate this as an emotionally powerful and thought-provoking piece of writing inspired by Sherlock, so for that reason I think it deserves to be on this list.

7. The Ground Beneath Your Feet, by Chryse. E, 68,803 words. Set after Season 3, but as if the last two minutes of HLV never happened. “The plane went on to Eastern Europe, and this is what came after.” John’s perspective.

This fic is pretty dark; the author describes it as “a PTSD story in which John was wholly devoted to Sherlock.” I don’t love it quite as much as the other two fics by Chryse that I’ve listed here, but that’s mostly because those two are just so amazing! I still really enjoyed this one. It was wonderful to see a kind and caring version of John emerge out of Season 3, and the story had several memorable moments, including one particularly nail-biting scene. I also really liked seeing John and Mycroft become friends as they bonded over their shared concern for Sherlock.

8. The Adventures of a Single Girl in London (Plus a Consulting Detective), by @earlgreytea68. M, 32,913 words. Set soon after Season 3. Alternates between different characters’ perspectives.

Bored with life at her new cottage in Sussex, Janine returns to London and moves in with Sherlock at 221B. Hilarity, heartbreak, and eventual Johnlock ensue.

This is a Season 3 fix-it fic that features an absolutely lovely friendship between Sherlock and Janine and the best version of Janine that I’ve come across in a fic. Sherlock is vulnerable and sweet, John is an absolute idiot, Janine is perfect, and the last two chapters just make me scream. Great stuff.

And that’s it for now! If you know of any other fics that I might like based on the above, I’d be happy to hear about them, so drop me a line!

Happy reading 😊

[athena-gundampla]

HG 1/144 Prototype Earth Federation Forces Mobile Suit RX-78-3 "G3 Gundam (Trans Pride Livery)" [Beyond Global] (Bling Knockoff)

Happy Pride everyone!!! This year's pride month build is pretty similar to last year's, adding a trans pride colour scheme and gradient shield onto an otherwise pretty standard kit.

This kit is a Bling knockoff of the Beyond Global version of the RX-78-2, with a custom cyan/magenta colour scheme that I felt would fit perfectly with a trans pride build. Bling's knockoff is pretty much identical to the base RX-78-2 Beyond Global, however unfortunately instead of recoloring the plastic for this scheme, they've simply painted over the sprue, which meant I needed to manually paint over all the nub marks. It's otherwise a very impressive knockoff, with smooth painting, perfect detail, and even a set of knockoff G3 decals with plenty of spares for customisation. The G3 is essentially another RX-78 that made it off Side 7 in pieces, and in the novels replaced Amuro's main Gundam later in the series.

The Beyond Global kit is nominally a High Grade, but it's designed to have as much articulation as possible, and be as colour separated and detailed as a Real Grade kit. There's a ton of articulation, including pivots at both the wrists and upper arm, a cleverly designed shoulder and torso for shoulder articulation, and even a torso flexion and ab-crunch! It can easily get a to lot of the human-like poses you see in the anime.

Apart from fixing up the visible nub marks with an extra layer of paint, and a basic silver and gunmetal weathering for all the grey parts, I added a trans flag and a trans rondel to emphasize the trans-flag adjacent colour scheme. I'm really proud of how the flag turned out, as I feel it's representative of my improved masking skills. The rondel is a little messy, unfortunately, but I still think it adds to the kit. I also ended up painting the eyes and head sensors with my gold marker, which helps them stand out, especially since there weren't any foil stickers included.

Apart from this, the kit was so well colour separated that there was no need for any further touch ups, apart from applying decals. I'm not sure what decal sheet was included, but it's one of the highest quality decal sets I've ever used. The decals are fairly durable and extremely thin, with minimal borders, and they lay super flat against the model. After topcoating, they look as though they've been tampo printed onto the kit, unlike Bandai's, which often notably stick up a little from the surface. I was even able to mask and paint on top of one on the thigh with no issues.

There's a nice little instruction sheet induced for decal placement, but I also improvised a little and included a few of my own spare decals to help bring everything together, especially on the shield and the beam rifle.

As above, the kit is super poseable, and can easily hit and maintain a lot of anime accurate poses, especially given the lack of polycap usage (although a lot of the plastic parts still resemble the polycaps they were derived from). I had a lot of fun trying out poses I couldn't quite hit with my older Origin version of the RX-78-2.

This kit comes with a few hand options for posing, including an open left hand, two open fists for the beam sabers and shield, and a right hand pistol grip. There's also the standard gundam Beam Rifle, with a little peg for attaching to the rear skirt, and both a curved and straight beam saber effect for different poses.

Overall, this is one of my favorite builds so far. I really enjoyed the decal process, and I love how the unique colour scheme helps it stand out on my shelf.

[felassan]

The Gamer interview with Alix Wilton Regan by Meg Pelliccio : '“I'm Probably Not Going To Play The Inquisitor Again,” Says Dragon Age’s Alix Wilton Regan'

[source]

"I can’t help but hear the Inquisitor from Dragon Age whenever Alix Wilton Regan speaks. “I get told that a lot,” she laughs. “It's hilarious because I go through these things where I'm like, it's me but it's not me, but it's me, but it's not me, and I'm like, it's kind of just you, babe. I would say voices that are closest to mine would probably be the Inquisitor, Sam Traynor - because she's a Londoner, so I just leaned a bit heavier into the London estuary twang. Joanna Dark, she's very close to my voice, there are a few. “I think Inquisitor was a little bit posher. Because she was supposed to have this kind of noble quality to her, you know? It was her personality; she's mature enough to lead and command authority.”"

"The Ups And Downs Of BioWare Development Wilton Regan was “absolutely thrilled” when she received the call from BioWare that the Inquisitor would be returning for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. “I will follow that Inquisitor into battle any time that BioWare calls on me to do so. It was very emotional to go back into the booth.” “We did a lot of sessions,” she tells me. “There were a lot of changes. I can't even remember what some of those earlier sessions were recording, but there was a big gap between one block of recording and then what ended up [being in the game]. There was another chunk of recording where clearly a lot of stuff had changed, and that was the stuff that went in the game. “When I went in for that final session, I just remember crying my eyes out in the booth because, one, it was so beautifully written. Two, it felt like such a perfect ending for the Inquisitor and Solas together. Three, speaking Dalish is quite emotional, just in itself. I don't know that I'm particularly good at it, but I'll certainly try.” That hard-hitting finale and the many changes that game had already undergone made her reach out to BioWare and tell them that, despite knowing she had no power over what happens to the Inquisitor, “I promise you this is right, and I know it's right because I'm the one crying right now. So if it's moved me that much, it's right.” Fortunately for everyone, that ending is what BioWare included in the final version. Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s development went through so much turmoil, changing its direction, its name, and much of the team. As fans, we watched from the outside with trepidation as news broke and development changed course, and Wilton Regan says she also watched on with a similar fear and tells me how sad she is to see what’s happened to the BioWare team. “I love BioWare. How could I not? They gave me my start. I owe so much to BioWare, so I do feel sad about what's happened. You work on Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Awakening, Dragon Age 2, and you are freaking invested. Mass Effect 3, in between, with Sam Traynor. You know those people. You know those directors that you're talking down the line to for months and months and months at a time. “It's always wonderful to work as an actor. It's always lovely to know that your work's appreciated and the company wants you to come back. Of course, that's a beautiful thing. But you're really invested in these people who had a baby on your first job, and now that baby is eight, and is growing up, and you know that they have mortgages to pay just like you do. You want to see them work. You want to see them thrive. When people have given you so much and been so generous and offered you these brilliant roles, I want to see them thrive. I feel really sad about this consolidation [...] I just feel sad that people have moved on.”"

"Returning As The Inquisitor Though Wilton Regan entered the booth as a support character this time instead of the lead, she said it didn’t feel weird at all. “The Inquisitor is such an established character in the Dragon Age canon. She is so distinct. She is so much her own person, and she is the absolute bedrock of Dragon Age: Inquisition, which I would argue is one of the most important video games, maybe in the canon of video games, that's ever come out for high fantasy RPG worlds. Even if you haven't played Dragon Age, you've heard of it. To me, she's so established with her distinct personality and ways of being. I knew exactly who she was moving forward.” However, she tells me about one thing that did feel strange: listening to her old match file. Every time you enter the booth, you start the day with a match file so you can listen to what you were previously doing with your voice, regardless of whether it was only the day before that you were last in the booth, to help you find the same tone and energy. “Even if the Inquisitor is very similar to me, she's still different. She's not me. What was fascinating is that the director goes, ‘Okay, can you play Alix a match file?’ and that's my voice from ten years ago. I was like, oh my God, I was a child when it came out. Ten years have passed, lots has happened in that time. But what was interesting is I felt that was how they wrote the Inquisitor as well. They brought her back older, wiser. It works, and I love that they did it. It would have been nonsense if it were three months later. And also, I don't have the voice that I had.” Wilton Regan pauses, before quickly adding with a wink, “I mean, I can still do the voice that I had. Just so employers are very clear, I can still do that voice, but my voice has changed. That's what was interesting, coming back as the Inquisitor and being like, oh, she's not a baby Inquisitor anymore, finding her way in the world and rallying the party.” When Inquisition and its DLC wrapped, Wilton Regan had no idea that she’d ever be back as the Inquisitor, though she always hoped. “I have to say that although it is brief, her part within Veilguard is also beautiful. She has quality time in Veilguard as opposed to quantity, and I respect that from BioWare. The Inquisitor-Solas storyline is so famous, powerful, and emotional. But I did feel bereft on that last day of recording. was like, ‘Oof, this is it. I've got to say goodbye to my girl.’ Within the canon and the way that BioWare works, I'm probably not going to play the Inquisitor again.” When it comes to games like Inquisition, we all have our own ways of playing, and Wilton Regan is no different. She tells me, “I would never play as anyone else's voice” when I ask if she chooses her own Inquisitor performance. As far as romance goes, she opts for Iron Bull, explaining, “Listen, he's still Freddie Prinze Jr, guys. I'm of the era where he was a heartthrob.” Fear not, Solavellan fans, she also romanced the big bad Dread Wolf, too. “I've also done a bit of Solas. Those are my three - Iron Bull, Sera, and Solas. I had to do Solas because he's always been so important in the recordings, so irrespective of who I perhaps wanted to romance, it felt responsible as a video game actress to need to understand the Solas stuff.”"

"Mass Effect & Dragon Age Having been in both the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series, I couldn’t help but ask which series Wilton Regan prefers. “You can't choose. They're very different.” On Mass Effect 3, she tells me, “You'd be a freaking idiot if you weren't aware that acting opposite people like Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale is like one of the best experiences of your life as an actor. That you've got to give super kudos to. I also loved in Mass Effect that Sam was an openly gay character. I loved that she couldn't be swayed if you were a male Shep. I thought it was really ballsy. It cemented who BioWare were as a company for me. So I loved all of that.” While Wilton Regan has featured in every mainline Dragon Age game, it was Inquisition where she took on the role of lead protagonist. “Acting opposite all of these incredible characters, and you're having all these wild experiences, and you're like, wait, which lover is this? Which storyline are we on now? Because it gets so much more sprawling and complicated, so your mind has to do more mental gymnastics to keep up.” She tells me that one thing she loves about both series is the narratives. “I'm just a kind of bog standard classically trained drama school kid, I respond to good writing. I respond to emotional writing. I think that's why I work so heavily as an actor in the RPG world. My thing is classical theatre along with film and TV training, and I happen to have ended up in video games, and so the thing that I responded to so well in both Mass Effect and Dragon Age is that they are really emotional storylines. That's where I excel.” When asked which series she would return to if she could, in any capacity and not just reprising her old roles, she chooses Mass Effect, explaining, “not because I think it's better, but just I have explored that world a lot less.” As she was only in Mass Effect 3, she tells me that’s the entirety of her knowledge on the series, “I know there's a whole other world with brilliant characters. I would have loved to have met Jack from ME2, who was Courtenay Taylor's character. I know there were some heavyweights in 1 and 2 that I would have liked to meet, so I think exploring the Mass Effect worlds either as Sam Traynor again, so she gets to explore, or as a different character would be cool.” If she had to pick another Dragon Age character to be, Wilton Regan chooses Morrigan. “She's kind of hot. She's this hot, strong, grounded woman.” When considering the same question for Mass Effect, she tells me that, interestingly enough, she almost was another Mass Effect character. “I did audition before I became Traynor. I was auditioning for EDI. That was quite funny. That could have all been very different, guys.” However, what Sam Traynor did offer Wilton Regan was a slice of local pride. “I love Sam because also Sam's a Londoner. When they were like, ‘We loved your audition. We just don't think it's quite the right place for you in the game.’ I was like, ‘So what's gonna happen?’ They're like, ‘You're gonna be a Londoner.’ Straight up. And I was like, ‘Cool, I'm down because I am a Londoner born and bred. I'm down. Take me to your master.’”"

“You Have To Love Your Characters” In much the same way that she can’t choose a favourite between Mass Effect and Dragon Age, she also can’t choose a favourite video game project, as she says they are all her favourites for different reasons. “There's an acting theory, which is you have to love your characters, no matter who they are. Not only do you have to love your characters, but it is your job as the actor to defend your character's integrity at all costs in all circumstances. I really feel that quite strongly. My job as the actor is not to judge my character for making bad decisions. [...] My job is to invest in the character and find the things that I love about them, so I can pull that personality out of myself and deliver it to the audience.” Looking back at all the characters she’s portrayed, there’s one in particular she’d like to see return. “Aya is one of the most important characters in the canon of Assassin's Creed because she is the mother of the Creed. She's the founder of the Creed. And as such, it would be so beautiful to see her return and have a fully fleshed out storyline of her own where people really invest in Aya as this quintessential character. I would love to see Ubisoft do [that]. If anyone deserves it, it's definitely Aya. And it's not because I played Aya, it's because she is so important and people deserve to find out more about her, how she felt about the death of her son, everything. It would have been wonderful to have more time and attention spent with Aya, and most fans have said that online.” Wilton Regan will also be starring as Joanna Dark in the upcoming reboot of Perfect Dark, and while she can’t say much about the project right now, she tells me she is “very proud to be playing Joanna.” Perhaps next time I meet with Wilton Regan, we’ll be sitting in another café after the launch of Perfect Dark, and it’ll be Joanna I’ll be hearing as she speaks. However, after spending hundreds of hours in DA: Inquisition, I think she will forever and always be the Inquisitor to me.

[source]

[jollyhunter]

24 Kinky Days with Dean x reader - Day 9.

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Pairing: Dean Winchester x fem!reader

Warnings: NSFW - MDNI! - includes explicit sexual content. It's a kinky writing challenge, so expect anything at this point, (nothing freaky, don't worry) but it's a surprise calendar so I won't spoil it! (Also, English is not my native language) Contains brief reference to Dec.1 (Sunshine)

Advent calendar includes: headcanons, snippets, one shots, imagines, blurbs etc.

Words: 2,690 (I tried to keep it short but ended up with a longer version since I wanted to do this idea of sweet loving Dean switching back and forth to soft dom!Dean justice)

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Feedback and reblogs are highly appreciated! And let me know whether you enjoy it so far! <3 A/N: In my headcanon Dean’s a switch and a super soft dom, always making sure you feel comfortable. And mainly playing the dom part because he had noticed how you'd always bite your bottom lip whenever he’s using his deep and authoritative voice with others or how you'd swallow thickly when he kicks into action on hunts, and it dawns on him that it actually turns you on. Dunno whether this is a popular headcanon but guess that's just my take on him, I hope you'll enjoy it!

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9th Dec. - Whip Stroke

“Are those the same cuffs we’re using on our hunts? Nasty.” you jab with a little playful smile on your lips while you watch Dean smirk and chuckle, rifling through his duffle bag to pull out the familiar pair of handcuffs.

“Yep, that’s the exact pair. But don’t worry, no ghost slime or vamp blood on ‘em.” He assures with a grin, as he makes his way back to the bed.

He kneels down just behind your naked back, the handcuffs grasped in his fingers while he gently tugs at your hands. “You remember the safe word, baby?” He asks, as he leans towards you, a calm and gentle tone in his words when he begins to bring your wrists together behind your back. You feel your excitement kick in, his strong hands coaxing your slender ones to follow his lead with such tenderness - in a way like no one rarely ever gets to witness him despite you.

Your head turns sideways to glance back at him, searching for his eyes to give him a reassuring smile of yours. “Yep, Cherry Pie.” you chuckle lightly. And to prove your point, you drop slightly forward, your naked chest automatically sinking further into the mattress while he pulls your arms behind your back together. He carefully places the cuffs around your wrists, locking them with a quiet click, before giving them a gentle and tentative tug, always checking to make sure you weren’t uncomfortable

“Too tight?” He asks, his tone calm and gentle. “No, it’s a green from my side.” You hum, referring to the traffic light system you’d always use when you'd do something more intense.

Dean lets out a silent sigh of relief, but quickly covers it up with a cocky grin, “Now, remember that time your drunk ass told me you’d want me to tame you like a little brat…? You up for it?” For a moment you swallow thickly, your breath caught in your throat. Wait- shit- He actually remembers that? “I got us something… in case you’re still u-”

“Yes,” you cut him short, the word slipping your lips thanks to your excitement sky rocking now. “Is it another gift wrapped in toilet paper?” You quickly add, trying to distract from your flustered expression. Dean’s smirk widens at your eager response and he moves off the bed to get something from the nightstand’s drawer, “Nah, this one didn’t need packing.” Moments later, he kneels back on the bed behind you, his hands moving to gently caress your skin again. You angle your shoulders, peering back up at him with the side of your face flush against the mattress, your breath increasing as you spot the new toy in his hand. Held up high, letting you see it in its full glory, was a medium-sized, black leather riding crop.

Goddamn. A shiver runs through your body, your heart suddenly racing and the heat pooling between your legs. He begins to slowly run the leather tail of the crop across your bare skin, allowing you to get used to the new sensation. Your breath hitches when it ever so lightly brushes over your skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake and sending another cold shiver down your spine.

“Damn…” you breath out hoarsely, slightly muffled by the mattress. And you suddenly feel your cheeks flush a bit pink at the thought of your following words, “You- … you gonna whip me in shape?”

He chuckles in response, the vibrations of his laughter rippling against your skin. “Oh definitely – can’t tame my girl otherwise, now can I.” He says, before he begins to lightly nudge your legs with the end of the crop. “Lift your hips.” He instructs, his voice calm and gentle yet authoritative.

You wiggle yourself off the mattress in order to lift your hips, your chest still firmly pushed into the blanket as it was a bit difficult to hold your balance with your wrists cuffed behind your back.

Dean notices you swaying slightly and his free hand quickly goes to stabilize you by holding your hip upright. “Good girl.” He murmurs in response, a tone of praise in his voice. He then begins to slowly run the end of the crop down your spine, the leather slowly and gently sliding along the bumps under your skin. A soft whimper escapes your lips at the sensation while the leather tail continues to tease and caress your skin, causing chills to run down your spine and straight to your core.

Without a word, he suddenly smacks the leather down against your ass, the impact stinging but in a way that makes you shiver from pleasure and excitement. You involuntarily wince at the sudden whip, muffling the pathetic noise with the mattress as you bury your face in the blanket.

“Shit- sorry babe,” he apologizes quickly while his hand goes to caress the spot where the leather had hit. He leans to the side to check on your expression, his eyes widened slightly, “You okay?” “Mm-hm”, you confirm, the unmistakable lust carrying your husky voice when the next words slip you, “P-please- please don’t stop- I-” Did you just say that? You bite your lips, your eyes quickly averting his with a hint of embarrassment.

Dean senses your inner conflict and his protectiveness quickly kicks in – you feeling embarrassed in front of him? Nuh-uh, nope, not with me. He thinks for a moment, his free hand gently stroking your ass. Then, a faint grin spreads across his face when it clicks in his head and he realizes what you want but don’t dare to voice.

“Whimper for me…” He suddenly instructs, his voice going low and deep, just the way he knew secretly turned you on. He had noticed it plenty of times before when you were on hunts, never commenting on it, but your subtle reactions never went unnoticed by him.

You freeze, unsure whether you heard him correctly, but your teeth were already pulling at your lip again at that tone of his. Dean notices your hesitation, so he decides to step up his game. He slides the crop up from the back of your thighs, to your ass and then to your lower back.

“I want you to make pretty and needy sounds for me, sunshine.” He murmurs, his voice a low and gentle tone. “I want you to beg while I tame you.” He lightly smacks the leather against the back of your thigh which makes you wince softly against the blanket. “Whimper, and I’ll reward you, little brat.” He promises, his voice gentle yet commanding, trying his best to play the role you secretly long for.

A shiver runs through your body at his words and lord - that firm tone of his does things to you, you would never admit loudly. Slowly, you feel your inhibitions evaporate. And instead lust and desire takes its place.

Leaned onto one shoulder, with your cuffed wrists still behind your back, you slightly tilt your body and lock eyes with him. His expression is a mixture of a knowing glint in his green eyes and a firm look that tells you he won’t stop until you’ll finally let go of that last shred of misplaced shame. A small, tentative smile appears on your face before you put on a desperate and whining expression with a soft small whimper.

He chuckles as he witnesses you following his instructions and slowly giving in to your secret desires, his smirk growing on his lips.

“Good girl…” he praises, then brings the leather back down against your skin, a bit rougher this time, causing a thwack to echo through the room.

“Ah-Mmnnnh!” A louder whine escapes you, not caring any more to stifle them.

He leans forwards so that his mouth is right by your ear, his breathing heavier than usual. “That was better… much better sweetheart.” He places a kiss on your jawline, before the end of the crop’s suddenly sliding against your side. “Do you wanna know what that little display earned you…?” he asks, his hot breath tickling your skin and making your own breath hitch briefly.

He then pushes his hips forwards, his chest flush against your back. “Can you feel that?” He asks, his voice a low tone. “Can you feel just how hard you make me, sweetheart?”

“Y-yeah, God you’re really hard…” You say, your breath shaking slightly when you feel his cock twitching against the fabric of his pants, grinding against you.

He chuckles at your response, “Yeah… that's all because of you, sunshine…” He bites his bottom lip, secretly begging you to never feel embarrassed again for something that brings you pleasure. After a moment, he pulls back again, his heart rate rising as well now. “Turn over for me, sweetheart.” He instructs, his tone still demanding, determined to get you more hot.

You do as told and roll over, your wrists buried beneath your back as you settle down again. Then he slowly runs the end of the leather down your breasts, making your breath increase and a soft moan leave your lips. Dean has to bite back a groan at your reaction, before he scoots closer to you, sitting on his knees between your legs. One hand on your thigh and the other holding onto the leather crop. “You’re in for a treat, my good girl.”

He runs the end of the riding crop up the inside of your leg. “Just relax… I wanna see how well you can listen…”

You nod and lower your head back down into the mattress, while your legs shiver under the touch of the riding crop, both in anticipation and desperation. He slowly runs the leather up your leg, and onto your stomach, making you squirm. He chuckles when he sees you raise your head to glance towards it, trying to guess the next smack. “Ah, ah, ah. Eyes on me…” You let out a frustrated whine while you reluctantly tare your gaze from the leather crop and back to him. Dean grins, amused by your reaction, but quickly continues in his dominant persona, trying not to break character for you. “That’s it… just focus on me, little brat…”

He then flicks the riding crop in the air before gently moving it down towards your inner thigh. He licks his lips when you let your head fall back into the mattress obediently and his eyes lock onto your dripping wet folds. You feel the end of the leather move up your thigh, before he places it over the top of your covered clit. Your legs tremble and your hips subtly buck, desperate for more friction, the teasing killing you at this point. Dean ignores your eagerness and slowly drags the end of the leather over your clit, his breath now short and quick with his own need. “Are you being a good girl…? Or you still need some tamin’ by good ol’ Winchester?”

“Mm-hm” you whimper shakily, your mind a haze by now but Dean knows the answer was clearly for the latter.

He chuckles when he hears your needy sound, finally allowing yourself to let go. “That’s what I thought…”

Your thighs twitch involuntarily when you feel his fingertip brushing against your slick folds, teasing your entrance. You whimper and your cuffed hands behind your back twist in a desperate effort to clutch the sheets. “God - So wet already for me…” he murmurs under his breath, his voice a deep groan.

“Guess I’ma have to scold you a lil’ more, hmm…” He hums, the riding crop being dragged up the other side of your inner thigh now. A shiver runs up your legs, the leather feeling like sparks against your skin. He then brings the crop down on your inner thigh, not hard enough to leave a mark, but also hard enough to make it sting.

“Ah-hnnn,” Your entire body twitches and you wince from the stinging sensation. You quickly bite your lips, your eyes rolling back and your head pressed into the mattress.

Dean’s persona falters briefly at your intense reaction. “Jesus…” He whispers. “You good, sunshine..?” He asks, his voice gentle and reassuring. “Color?”

“Green,” you pant softly, your eyes briefly connecting before you drop your head back down.

He smiles warmly when he hears you reply, relieved at your answer. You’re enjoying this.

“Good. Stay still…” He orders, his voice low and firm again. The crop comes down again with a thwat – harder than the last time. You hiss but once again bite back the louder reaction, your leg twitching at the stinging pain mixed with pleasure and need.

He smiles that signature cheshire smile at the sight of you, dripping wet, whimpering, wrists behind your back and the fact that he's the reason for this secret kink of yours. He suddenly notices how his pants grow tighter by the second and a dark stain spreads on the fabric around his crotch. “Just keep being a good girl for me… and you’ll get a really big reward.”

Dean quickly undoes his jeans, pushing them down along with his boxers in one, hasty movement. You let out a low moan, your eyes locked on his thick erected cock now freed and twitching from need. He leans over you, his expression suddenly soft and vulnerable. “I love you…” He mumbles against your ear, his words barely a whisper, but suddenly feeling the need to let you know, especially now that he’s acting all rough and dominant for you.

You tilt your head slightly to nuzzle against the side of his face, your voice a soft murmur against his ear, “I love you, too.” You drop your voice lower before you add a little sheepish, “And thank you.” His heart swells when you nuzzle against him, his arms wrapped around you, pulling your body up and against his where your chin comes to a rest on his shoulder. “Thank you for trustin’ me with your secret fantasies…”

He then gently rolls you over onto your stomach again and lays down over you, his front pressing against your back. “Now… I’ve still got some tamin’ to do, don’t I?” he chuckles with a teasing smirk, at which a snort-chuckle slips your own lips and you mutter, “I’ll be a real brat if you don’t.”

“That so? Mmmh… my little vixen, huh.” He hums quietly, massaging and slightly squeezing you. He then lets the leather crop come down on your butt, another loud thwat echoing through the bedroom.

“Ahh-hnng” you whimper softly and you feel your pussy twitch from need.

He smiles at your whimper, before letting the crop come down again, a bit harder this time.

A louder whimper escapes you this time, your hips twitching involuntarily from the increased burning sensation, “I- I’ll be obedient” you suddenly wine, pleading now.

He chuckles again, his voice still gruff as he’s playing along. “Of course you’ll be… and I’ll reward you for that.” He pats your reddening skin with his other hand, “You’re such a good girl for me…” his hand slides across your butt and down your inner thighs, feeling again how much you were dripping already. He groans at the sight of you so ready and his fingers scoop up some of it to coat his hardened cock with your juice.

You pant heavily by now, your butt wiggling slightly in an attempt to get closer to him, until he gives you a harder pat on the ass. “Now don’t move that cute ass of yours, ‘kay?” He leans over you to place a kiss on your favourite spot on your neck, rewarding himself with a soft, pleased hum of yours. “I- I’ll be good…”

His free hand goes back to caressing your red ass-cheek again while you can feel the tip of the leather crop press against your inner thigh, gently nudging your legs further apart. He then chuckles cheekily, knowing how much you enjoy him playing this role. So, he purposely lowers his voice even more to imitate his gruff, intimidating hunter-mode-tone while he swiftly slaps your inner thigh.

“Buckle up sunshine, you’re gonna get tamed now.”

⚝‿︵‿୨♡ ⚝ ♡୧‿︵‿⚝

Masterlist of opened windows:

1st Dec. - Sunshine 2nd Dec. - Spell Book 3rd Dec. - Lights Out 4th Dec. - Tickle 5th Dec. - Dirty UNO 6th Dec. - (TBA) 7th Dec. - Candlelight 8th Dec. - Hex Play 9th Dec. - Whip Stroke

⚝‿︵‿୨♡ ⚝ ♡୧‿︵‿⚝

Tags:

@ariasong11 @deansjacket @literallylexa @lmpala1967 @foxyjwls007 @impala67rollingthroughtown

[man-i-love-fanfiction]

Double Babysitter - Hozier x fem! reader

Summary: You and Andrew end up with the tough task of babysitting your friend's child together.

Word Count: 6,325

Author’s Note: hi hi hi!!!! this is my first real fanfic, i’ve written little things here or there but this is the only full fic i’ve written. shoutout to the wonderful @deprivedmusicaljunkie for beta reading this, im so grateful for u! this is based on the Bluey episode Double Babysitter, it's not required watching but if you want to watch it to understand the fic better you can. i hope you enjoy!!!

ALSO: I do not know Hozier in real life, nor do i claim to. This is a fictionalized (ish) version of him. All other characters featured are fictional. Now, enjoy!

fic under the cut <3

Andrew was always vaguely aware of the fact that he was getting older. He had spotted the occasional gray patch in his stubble, noticed a faint wrinkle somewhere on his face. He even felt his back ache every now and again, but he had always brushed it off.

It wasn't until he had been asked by an old friend from college to babysit his daughter that he can say he actually felt old.

Of course, he wasn't complaining. He had met the young girl only a few times, but to say she held a special place in his heart would be an understatement. He had just finished up the last leg of his tour, so he had all the time in the world back at home. And he did owe Liam and Quinn, her parents, a favor. They deserved to have a night out just the two of them; watching their daughter was the least he could do.

He took this responsibility very seriously. He was even on time, arriving at 6pm on the dot, as instructed (given, it was only because he told himself he had to be there at 5:30).

He walked up to their doorstep, gave their door a few light knocks, and stepped back. It took a moment, but he could hear his friend’s voice call for Quinn through the door before watching it unlock. Liam opened the door with a puzzled expression that had Andrew wondering if he somehow showed up on the wrong day.

“Andrew, you're here… on time? Are you feeling okay?”

“Ha ha, very funny.” He replied sarcastically, accompanied by an eye roll. They greeted each other, Liam widened the door, and Andrew stepped inside.

“Honey, the babysitter’s here!” Liam shouted up the staircase. Quinn quickly emerged with open arms and gave Andrew a quick squeeze once she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Andrew! It's great to see you. How long has it been?” She asked.

“About… six months, I’d say. The week before I left for the States.”

“That's much too long. We need to actually go out sometime soon.”

They spent a few minutes standing around and catching up, swapping stories about their jobs (including a concert story or two). It gave Andrew a moment to appreciate these smaller, mundane moments that seemed to slowly be becoming a rarity. He was mid-sentence when he was caught off guard by the pitter-patter of small footsteps rushing towards him.

“Uncle Andy!” He glanced down, finding a little girl already latched on to his leg; Katie, the reason he’d been asked to babysit. He reached down to pat her head, ruffling the little one’s hair.

“Hey there, lass! How are you?”

A muffled noise that sounded something like ‘I’m good’ came from the girl as she buried her face in his leg.

His sentence was cut off at the sound of another knock at the door.

“That's odd. I don't think I’m expecting anyone-” Quinn started, interrupted by Liam opening the door to find you standing on their front step. You didn’t even notice the surprised looks on everyone’s faces as you entered, blindsided by your excitement.

“Hey,” you said, giving Liam a side hug before moving on to Quinn and doing the same. Katie let go of Andrew’s leg and rushed over to you, joyfully screaming your name. A wide grin grew on your face at the sight of her, and Andrew couldn’t help but notice how beautiful your smile was. He immediately snapped himself out of it once he realized he had no idea who you were, let alone what you were even doing here.

“Hi, Katie Cat!” you exclaimed. He watched as you pulled her into an embrace, not noticing his presence until you pulled away. You looked up at him, your gaze meeting his, smile fading in awe.

“Y/N, this is my Uncle Andy,” Katie explained as she held on to your hand, quickly dragging you towards him until there was maybe a foot between you two before pointing upwards. A thought flashed across Andrew’s mind: Is this five-year-old playing matchmaker?

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Have you met my friend Andrew before?” Liam asked.

“You do seem familiar. Didn’t you get drunk and sing Take Me To Church at the wedding?”

“Probably.”

“Oh my god, Y/N, I am so sorry. I think I double-booked myself and accidentally asked both of you to watch Katie,” Quinn admitted. “Again, so sorry. My head’s been all over the place today.”

“It’s alright. He got here first. I’ll just go, then. Leave you to it,” you decided, admittedly a little disappointed but understanding the whole scenario. You took a step back, turning to go before a small hand grabbed yours, stopping you in your tracks.

“Don't go! You can both stay.” Katie begged, puppy dog eyes in full effect. It's like she knew exactly how to tug on your heartstrings, because after that you were willing to stay for as long as she wanted. But you still needed permission.

“I mean, as long as it's okay with… Uncle Andy.”

Andrew gave you a nod, perhaps a bit too quickly. He couldn't tell if it was because he already knew he was going to need help with this, or because he simply wanted to be in your company. Either way, both were true.

“Two babysitters it is.” He conceded.

“Hooray!” She yelled, latching herself onto your leg as she had done to Andrew's just moments before. You looked down at her, a warm smile returning to your face, before looking back up at him. All three of you could tell this was going to be… an interesting night, to say the least.

Before they left, Liam and Quinn had given you two very lenient instructions. All you had to do was put Katie to bed by 8:30 and watch the house until they got home around 10. Everything else was fair game. Easy enough of a job for two grown adults. However, the way that your night started at their kitchen table made you wonder if perhaps their rules were too permissive.

You were sat across from each other, you and Andrew on the same side, Katie on the other. It oddly felt like you were being interrogated by this small child. Which, after offering a game of 20 questions so you could get to know each other better, wasn't exactly far off from reality.

“Why do I feel like she's going to ask me why I was at the scene of the crime?” he asked you in a whisper, leaning towards you. Andrew swore he could feel his heart skip a beat as you chuckled at his remark, and he was relieved as you revealed you felt the same.

“The real question is, is she Good Cop or Bad Cop?” You replied in the same hushed tone.

“Oh, bad cop. I’ve done this with her before, and when she wants to know something she’ll badger you until she gets an answer.”

“Perfect. She can be my lawyer in about twenty years.”

That elicited a laugh out of Andrew, a small chuckle that caught Katie’s attention.

“What's funny?” She asked, genuinely feeling like she missed out on your conversation.

“It's nothing.” You changed the subject to convince her it was inconsequential. “Why don't we get started? Ask us anything,” you instructed, regretting the words as soon as they left your mouth, mostly because of the next words that came out of Katie’s.

“Why don't you have a wife?” She turned to Andrew, whose mouth was now agape. Your own eyes had widened, shocked by the boldness of her first question before remembering she is a little girl that hadn't yet developed a filter.

“You haven't seen me in a while. How do you know I don't?” He retorted, a lazy attempt at deflecting the question.

“Do you have a wife?”

“Well, no…”

“Then why don't you have a wife?”

“Ehm… I think it's her turn.” He tilted his head in your direction. Katie agreed with a nod and thought for a beat. Once she formulated her question, her attention turned to you.

"How many friends do you have?”

“God, I don't know… four? Five?”

“That's not a lot. Why do you only have five friends?”

“Good question… back to him!”

Katie turned.

“How come I don’t see you often?”

“Because usually I’m on tour.”

“Is that why you don’t have a wife?”

“Huh. Maybe.”

“Do you want to get married?”

“Yes,” you both said. You exchanged a glance, surprised you both had the same answer. The girl across the table was oblivious to this small moment you shared, and immediately went back to her questioning.

“Will Tommy be the husband?” Katie leaned across the table, an excited gleam in her eye.

Tommy. Your ex. Last time Katie had seen you, you two were in love, almost madly. However, a lot can happen in four months, and you found yourself having to explain a breakup (a particularly messy one, at that) to this naive girl. You let out a sigh.

“No. Me and Thomas… we aren't really friends anymore”

“But you said he was your true love.”

“Not anymore! Next question. Please.”

“True love is forever. Is true love not forever?”

“It is! It is.”

“Then how come you and Tommy aren't friends?”

“Well, Tommy — Thomas,” you corrected yourself before continuing, your words stunted, “and I weren't as good together as we thought. It took longer than it should've to realize, but we couldn't work. Kind of like when you’re doing a puzzle, and it looks like two pieces fit, but when you try to put them together, they don't.”

It was like you could watch the gears turn in Katie’s little head; she was trying as hard as she could to imagine your comparison. Meanwhile, Andrew was watching you as you thought, mentally praising you for not only putting into words something obviously painful for you, but explaining in terms a kid could understand. Despite the supposed ‘way with words’ he had, he knew it would take him several tries and multiple rough drafts to do the same. He let you continue, his eyes never leaving your face.

“It’s just sometimes, you think someone is your true love, when actually they’re not. Sometimes some things aren't meant to be. And that’s okay. No matter how sad it makes the both of you afterwards, or how upset you get…”

Your sentence trailed off, your throat closing up with that all-too-familiar feeling you recognized immediately. All of this had happened months ago; the breakup between you and Thomas had devastated you of course, but you had recovered. But having to explain the complicated events between you two in such a straightforward way, to put all the emotions you felt into simple terms, made it all seem real. And it only made those feelings resurface.

Andrew could tell something was off. He, of course, had no idea about this past relationship, and frankly, it was none of his business. What was his business, however, was how you looked like you were about to cry, how he could see the tears in your eyes welling up. He wasn't about to let you shed a tear over this. So, he attempted a diversion.

“Alright, I think we're done playing 20 questions. How about a movie?” He stood up, a feigned smile on his face. Your eyes lit up at his suggestion and you stood up after him, following suit.

“You know what? Good idea. Katie, why don’t you go find something to watch with Andrew and I’ll make popcorn, get some snacks ready?”

For a moment you worried she wouldn’t comply and more innocently personal questions would be coming your way. However, Katie didn't seem to mind this interjection, immediately agreeing and hurrying over to the living room to find the TV remote.

You both watched as she scurried away before looking back at each other eyes meeting for the first time that night. A few seconds were spent just staring into his eyes, noticing how very green they were. This captivation distracted you from the awkward silence that filled the air between you. You broke eye contact first, stepping around your chair and pushing it in. You walked into the kitchen, the footsteps you heard behind you letting you know he followed you. You didn't speak until you knew Katie would be out of earshot.

“Thank you,” you said sincerely.

“No problem. I completely get it.”

“Jesus, my first babysitting gig and I almost cried. At this rate, I’ll have to go back to selling lemonade to make ends meet.”

He let out a laugh, and the sight of it made a smile tug at the corner of your lips, though you couldn't shake the feeling you looked a bit… pathetic.

“ You probably think I’m a loser, huh?”

“No! No, absolutely not. Love, breakups, endings … dealing with that stuff isn't easy. If I thought it was, I wouldn't write songs on the matter for a living. Having to explain it to a kid without crushing her dreams is even harder. If anything, I commend you for it.”

For a reason you couldn't immediately explain, his praise actually managed lighten your mood, to the point where you had to suppress the urge to grin from ear to ear.

“What is it?” Andrew asked, as if to tell you your smile hadn't gone unnoticed.

“That was… just really nice of you to say.”

“I mean, it's true.”

The room filled with silence for a moment before you broke it.

“Do you think we could just forget that the whole thing ever happened and get on with the night?”

“Absolutely. It's forgotten,” he agreed, borderline erasing it from his memory as soon as you asked. His attention shifted as he yelled into the other room.

“Katie, have you ever seen The Princess Bride?”

Andrew went off into the living room, following Katie, and a smile grew on your face as you looked through the pantry for microwave popcorn.

It took a solid ten minutes of searching due to the plethora of streaming services Liam and Quinn had, but you finally found The Princess Bride. Katie brought down some blankets from her room in the meantime. Given, because they came from a six-year-old’s bedroom, they were patterned with Disney characters and unicorns, but they were comfortable all the same. You sat on opposite sides of the couch, a bowl of popcorn equidistant between the both of you, and for a reason only her little brain could rationalize, Katie was sitting on the floor.

You looked at the screen in awe like it was your first time watching, when in actuality you’d seen the movie more times than you could count. You mouthed the words of the most famous lines, almost subconsciously, as to not disturb the little one’s first viewing experience. Of course, you also snuck a few glances at Andrew when the screen held less of your attention. Okay, maybe more than a few glances. It was the first time that night you both could actually relax, and you took the moment to size him up. His hair, which was up in a man-bun at the beginning of the night, had since been let down, brown curls now loosely framing his face. He wore a white sweatshirt and black jeans. On his feet were white Converse that were clearly well-loved, to say the least. Despite how casual it all was, he really pulled it off. It almost made you wish you could raid his closet, see what other unexpectedly stylish clothes he had in his possession, maybe steal a sweater on the way out.

Oddly enough, it felt natural, being this comfortable on opposite sides of the couch with a man that might as well be a stranger. It’s almost like you wouldn’t mind if this was your house, your television, your kid-

You were snapped out of your thoughts by the clapping you heard from Katie’s spot on the floor as the credits rolled.

“So what did you think?” Andrew asked. Katie’s gaze broke from the screen to look at him.

“I wanna watch it again!”

“You can watch it again another time with mum and dad.”

“I want to watch it now!”

“Katie, the movie’s over, and it's 8 at night. Get upstairs, put on your pajamas, and brush your teeth.” He scolded as he got up from his spot on the couch. He bent down, resting his hands on his knees.

“I said I wanna watch it again!”

“It's getting late, you have to get ready for-”

“Again! Again! Again!” She stomped. You knew she was bound to have a tantrum any second now. Something that, judging by the concerned on his face, Andrew had no idea how to handle. It seemed like it was your turn to come to the rescue.

You got up from your seat, walking over to Andrew to stand by his side (figuratively and literally).

“Could you help me out here?” He asked, his frustration with her slowly growing.

“Watch and learn.”

You turned to Katie and crouched down to be on her level.

“Do you want to play a game?”

She didn't give a verbal answer, but based on her frown immediately disappearing and her head nodding so rapidly you thought it might fall off, you could assume what she would say. You thought for a moment before continuing.

“All you have to do to play is go upstairs and do everything you would usually do right before you go to bed. I’m going to set a timer, and if you’ve done everything and you're in bed before the timer, you win. Got the rules?”

“Yep!” She squeaked, her excitement evident.

“Alright. Ready… set… go!”

She quickly ran out of the living room and up the stairs, leaving the two of you left stunned for a moment. You both got up from your crouching, and you craned your neck upward to be met with, to your surprise, a look of amazement from Andrew.

“I swear, you must be magic.”

You deflected his praise almost immediately.

“Please, I’m not even close to being magic. I just know that kids will do anything if you turn it into a game.”

“Which is a level of sorcery that I can only wish to achieve!”

“If we end up babysitting again, you can always become my apprentice.”

“Offering a second date already?”

You knew he was teasing, but the romantic suggestion was enough to make your heart pound in your chest. You responded the only way you knew how.

“Shut up…”

You bantered and talked, taking advantage of the very little time you had to try and get to know each other (past the deep secrets you already knew from Katie’s questions). Your conversation immediately felt as if you knew each other for years, not hours. There was almost a click to it; the back and forth between the two of you happened easily, naturally. But, like all things, it couldn't last forever. After about ten minutes, a small voice yelled from up the stairs:

“I’m done!”

“We’ve been summoned.” Andrew stated.

He started walking towards the staircase, and nodded his head to tell you to come along. You caught up to him with no hesitation.

Andrew opened the door to Katie’s room and took a look around. It was as messy as one expects a five-year-old’s bedroom to be. Toys, anything from fake jewelry to Barbies, were scattered across the floor. Her drawings, mostly scribbles of rainbows and cartoons and her family, hung on her wall. Stuffed animals and fuzzy blankets were contained in a chest in the foot of her bed. After a moment, he held the door wider, giving you room to walk inside. You thanked him and walked over to the side of Katie's bed. A bit unsure of what to do, Andrew stood behind you as you talked to Katie.

“Hey, you tricked me!”

“Yeah, I did. But now that you're all ready for bed and tucked in, aren't you tired?”

“I guess,” she started, a yawn interrupting her thought, “I am.”

“Then it's time for you to go to bed. Good night Katie Cat.”

You leaned in to place a kiss on her forehead before Katie let out a yelp.

“Wait! I can’t go to bed yet. I need a story.” She whined. “Mum and dad tell me a story every night before bed. I can't sleep without it.”

“What do you want it to be about?”

“Can it be about a princess? Like the movie?”

“Sure. Well, there was-”

“It needs to start with ‘once upon a time’.”

“Does it really have to?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then,” you conceded, knowing as much as you wanted to protest, she wouldn't let it go.“Once upon a time, there was a princess… that was trapped in a tower… guarded by a dragon.”

“Wow, that’s never been done before,” you heard him whisper behind you. You looked over your shoulder and shot him a small look of disapproval.

“Well, to her it's original. Just go with it,” you chided before continuing.

“As I was saying, there was a princess trapped in a tower. And there was a prince,” you turned behind you again, mouthing ‘that's you’ to the man behind you, “that was trying to rescue her.”

“Can I be the dragon?” Katie asked eagerly.

“Whatever you want, dear.” You replied, giving her approval. Katie let out a roar and, shockingly, Andrew got into character, already miming holding a sword and shield.

“Hello, Ms. Dragon. Listen, I have to slay you. I’m not happy about it either. It's the only way to save the princess.”

He gave you a quick glance, one you would've missed if you had blinked in the wrong moment. He returned his focus to ‘the dragon’.

“I usually am a pacifist, so I truly hate to do this, but I must…”

He faked a lunge towards her and began to tickle her, making both of them double over in laughter. You attempted to engrave the memory into your mind in fear that you would never experience a moment as heartwarming as this one again. He gave up after thirty seconds, standing up again.

“And just like that, the dragon was defeated!” You announced.

“Now the princess needs to marry the prince!” Katie yelled, almost commanded.

“What?” Andrew asked, more confused than opposed. Katie only gave him a disapproving look, which was enough to make him comply.

He knelt down on one knee and scoured the ground for something that had caught his eye before: a toy ring. He snatched it off her messy floor and held it towards you in an extended hand.

“Princess, I have rescued you from the dragon. Now, should you say yes, I would like to have you as my wife.”

This wasn't necessarily the most romantic moment of your life, but for some reason, it definitely made the list. A fact that was a bit pitiful, sure, but still very true. Which was exactly why you- technically, the princess- needed to take the story in an alternate direction. It was a personal way to protect your ego.

“And the princess said… no thanks.” Surely that would save your self-esteem from his imaginary judgment. To your surprise, it did the opposite. His brows furrowed in confusion, and his smile dropped.

“What? Why wouldn't the princess want to marry the prince?” He asked, trying to give you a look as if to tell you to just go with it. You, of course, got the message, but decided to lean more into your own narrative.

“She didn’t like the look of him.” Lie. But one that kept the girl entertained, her laughs growing louder.

“Why not?” Andrew couldn’t help but feel just a little offended, even though he knew everything you were saying was intended lightheartedly, the real purpose being to entertain the girl.

“Well, he was a bit lanky, for starts.”

“That’s not exactly something the prince can control. You have to cut him some slack there.”

“And his hair was better than hers! It was beautiful. All long and curly and fluffy. The princess simply wasn’t having it.”

“Wait, you think my hair is-.”

“And to top it all off, he was tall! Very tall. She’d have to go on her tiptoes just to kiss him, which, honestly Katie, gets very inconvenient.”

Andrew was about to counter, the words on the tip of his tongue, but stopped himself upon hearing the fits of giggles escaping Katie. He decided to let the moment be, taking in both your and Katie’s smiles from this new perspective.

You turned, your face showing your feigned contemplation. For a brief moment, you enjoyed the fact this might be the only time you'll be taller than him. A sigh escaped your lips and your eyes rolled, but you couldn't hide the smile on your face.

“I guess the princess could try and give the prince a chance.”

He looked back up at you, giving you a sheepish grin.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

He took your hand and carefully placed the ring on your finger, as gentle as he would be if it was made of diamond and not plastic. His calloused fingers wrapped around your hand, undoubtedly hardened by all the guitar he’d played over the years. The feeling of his hands on yours, him looking up at you, the way his eyes were staring into yours with such admiration, it all almost felt like a real proposal. Not one that came after slaying a dragon, but after years of knowing and loving each other. One that came before celebratory kisses and preparing for a wedding. One that made your heart stir and your mind wander, only stopped when you heard him mutter something.

“You kinda have to finish the story.”

Right. The story. His words snapped you out of your deep thought, and you blinked a few times as you focused back on reality and not what you’d made up in your head about the man you'd only known for about two hours. The gorgeous, tall, kind, funny man you had only known for two hours. You cleared your throat.

“So, the princess finally said yes to him. And then they got married and they all lived happily ever after!”

You took a bow, as if you had just finished up a broadway worthy performance. Andrew, however, stayed in his spot on the floor still kneeling, something you only noticed when you looked up to smile at him to find empty space where you expected his head to be. You looked down at him and whispered.

“You can get up now, you know.”

“Oh. Right.”

He got up and did his own small bow before making an announcement.

“Alright, story’s over. Time to go to sleep.”

Though she had enjoyed it, by the end of your story (performance?) Katie's eyes were already drooping, so she had no more hostility towards going to bed. You walked over and stood on the left side of her bed, Andrew on the right.

“Goodnight, Katie-Cat. Sweet dreams.” You said softly before placing a small kiss on her forehead. He quickly did the same, placing a kiss on her forehead as well.

“Goodnight, Katie. Sleep well.”

He paused for a moment before adding on something you hadn't expected.

“I love you.”

As if your heart couldn't melt any more.

“Love you too, Uncle Andy.” She mumbled before making herself comfortable, snuggling up under her blanket; it was almost a signal for you to leave the room. You both obeyed, walking towards her door frame. You flipped the light switch, leaving the room in darkness, and closed her door behind you both.

You hated to admit it, but a smile grew on both of your faces.

Unsure of how to celebrate (a handshake was too formal, a high-five was too loud), after an awkward rotation of gestures, you settled on a fist bump.

Does fist-bumping a man ten minutes after calling his hair beautiful count as mixed signals?

“We did it!” You whisper-shouted after your small celebration. Andrew's tone mirrored yours as he spoke.

“Jesus, is this what being a parent feels like?”

“I hope not. No offense to you, but I’m miserable.”

“Oh no, the pounding headache’s got to you too?”

“That and the back pain from all the crouching over.”

“At times I could feel my hair turning gray.”

“What I’m hearing is that you could also go for a cup of tea right about now.”

“That's exactly correct. However, this isn't our house, which means it's not our place to make tea.”

“It can be if you give me two minutes.”

You shot Quinn a quick text to ask.

hey. is it alright if me and andrew make some tea? I know you said we could do whatever but i feel bad if you're not home.

It took a minute, but Quinn replied.

i trust you both so much i’d let you cook a three-course meal without me home. go ahead and brew your tea.

“Well, we’ve got Quinn’s approval.”

You showed him the text, and he let out a soft chuckle, nodding. You both headed down the stairs as quickly (and quietly) as possible.

You returned to the kitchen and began to look for teabags while Andrew looked for a kettle. You didn’t dare to make a mess, so you both just closed and opened drawers until you found exactly what you needed. He filled the kettle and placed it on the stove while you made the hard decision between chamomile and earl grey; you immediately made your decision when he made a comment about chamomile being his favorite.

You leaned on opposite sides of the counter, the stove between the two of you. After a minute you fell into a silence that was comfortable, but unwanted. It was the first time that night you had the freedom of being alone now that Katie was fast asleep, yet you had no idea what to do with yourselves. Biting at your lower lip, you thought of something to say.

“Hey, we did a pretty good job being her court jesters for the night.” You finally commented. Andrew nodded his head before jokingly correcting your statement.

“More accurately, we did a good job being her prince and princess.”

“Almost made me think I should’ve pursued a career in acting.”

“You have to give some credit to your co-star here, as well.”

“Oh, absolutely. Oscar-winning performance. I appreciate you incorporating props, as well.”

“One of the greatest improv moments of my career.”

“I had no idea I was in the presence of such a legend. ” You said barely, being able to hold back your laughter. Your conversation fell back into a now-familiar rhythm. The topics started anywhere from how you knew Quinn to how much you both loved Katie, but as you went on you diverted to your favorite movies snd Andrew’s interest in classical literature. The only interruption was the whistle of the kettle, which you had almost forgotten about. Andrew took it upon himself to prepare the tea, even after you insisted that you would take over. Instead, you actually took in the kitchen, finding something unexpected on the counter.

You were both surprised that Liam and Quinn actually owned a radio.

“Do you mind if I put on some music?” He asked.

“Not at all.” You stepped to the side, giving him permission to turn the radio on.

He twisted the knob of the radio, searching for a station for a moment before stopping. He landed on a station playing jazz, turning up the volume as he recognized the tune: A Kiss To Build A Dream On by Louis Armstrong. Instinctively, he tapped his foot to the beat.

You both stood in silence, one that almost drowned out the song playing. This silence was just strong enough for you to formulate an idea. You liked this song, you were bored, and most importantly, you wanted to be close to him. So you decided to take a risk. You extended a hand in his direction.

“Care for a dance?”

It took him a moment to process your question out of shock. After a few seconds, he stuttered out his answer, his gaze shifting to your hand.

“I- No, I couldn't. I have two left feet. I’d probably be… stepping on your toes the entire time.”

You shrugged.

“Who cares? It's just us, and I’m not gonna judge you.” You reassured him, motioning for him to join you.

Andrew was quickly learning he couldn't say no to you.

He gave in, taking one of your hands in his and placing the other one on your waist. At first, you awkwardly kept your distance between each other, like two teens during a slow song at their school dance. However, you got more into a rhythm as time went on, eventually getting comfortable enough with him to rest your head on his chest, as close as you could get to his shoulder with his height. Andrew was hoping you were more focused on dancing so you couldn’t feel his heart beat out of his chest. He kept his promise of stepping on your toes, mumbling a “Sorry!” every time he did so. He wasn't as bad as he made himself out to be. He even tried to spin you by the second chorus, almost crashing you into him, but helping you regain your balance. Laughter was your only response to any of this.

Much to the dismay of you both, the song ended, and you pulled away from each other. You missed his touch, your hand buzzing from the sudden change. Another song began to play from the radio: I’m In The Mood For Love by Julie London. Christ, it was like the universe was sending you a sign. Everything else throughout the night had all led up to this.

You could barely process what was happening when Andrew placed his lips on yours.

The kiss was small and chaste, cautious in case you didn't reciprocate. It was so sudden that you forgot to kiss him back, just absorbing the moment that you had slowly been longing for more and more throughout the night. When he pulled away, all he saw was the astonishment and shock on your face. He didn't notice how your gaze was fixated on his lips, and instead frantically began to apologize.

“Shit, I misread you, didn't I? I’m so sorry, I apologize. You have every reason to be upset with me.”

His suggestion made you laugh.

“Are you kidding me? That's all I've wanted all night.”

You saw something change in his demeanor, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“It's alright if I kiss you again, then?”

“Yes! Yes. Please do.”

As soon as you gave him permission, he placed his hands on the sides of your face and pulled you close to him.

Another thing about the universe is that not only does it send signs, it tends to have impeccable timing; just as Andrew leaned in to kiss you again, you heard the front door unlock. Quinn’s voice rang through the hallway.

“Hey, I don't know if you got my text, but there wasn't that much traffic so we got home… Oh. I see we're interrupting something."

You both let go of each other, a look of guilt like you’d been caught doing something illegal. Thankfully, Quinn was no cop.

“I’m not mad or anything. Just happy you waited until Katie was asleep to start swapping spit.”

You both thanked her, ignoring a passing comment she made about how she “always did think you’d be good for each other”. You said your goodbyes, hugging Liam and Quinn with smiles and faces that were still flushed from earlier. You waved them a final goodbye and walked out onto the patio together, Andrew holding the door for you again. You were alone together again.

“So, do you think we could pick up from where we left off before?” You asked a mischievous glint in your eye.

“I thought you'd never ask.”

He finally leaned down to kiss you again, holding your face gently. This time, you reciprocated, placing your hand on the nape of his neck to keep him as close as possible. It was slow, as if both of you decided to take your time; a gentle precursor for all the kisses to come in the future. Your hands made their way into his hair, his making their way to your waist. You stay like that for what could have been forever for all that you care, but's only a minute.You both pulled away to get some air, small pants escaping your mouths. Andrew looked down at you with wonder, a smile growing on his face.

“You really are magic.” He mumbled.

“Still not magic. Just… me.” You deflected again.

“Is there a difference?” He asked rhetorically. He let out a sigh before speaking again.

“ Y/N… God, I feel like a teenager saying this, but… would you want to go on a date sometime? A proper one, with no babysitting or playing pretend. Just me and you and staring at a painting or a sunset or each other's faces.” He rambled, taking a deep breath. “Whatever you want.”

Letting out a laugh, you replied.

“I would love to.”

You gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Good night, Andrew."

“Good night, Y/N.”

Andrew gave you one last peck on the lips before you, unfortunately, went your separate ways for the night. Walking back to your car, you also couldn’t help but feel like a teenager, but because he made you so… giddy, so willing to start something new with him. You could barely keep down the butterflies in your stomach. All of this caused by coincidence, a bit of fate, and a babysitting gig. Not how you thought the night was going to go, but perhaps the most pleasant surprise you’d ever had.

You got into your car, and tuned the radio to the same station as before. All the songs remind you of him.

You had the stupidest smile on your face the entire drive home.

[margo-mania]

Do you have any voltron fic recs for someone who has not watched voltron and barely knows what its about /gen

BOY HOWDY BESTIE DO I HAVE SOME :D klance fanfic is my favourite ao3 genre let me get you some good stuff that imo you dont really need a lot of show context (as someone who hasnt even finished the show) to get yippee!! (most of these will be klance so sorry in advance lol)

in no particular order i present some of my favourites

Freaking out on the interstate - au where lance picks up keith as a hitchhiker and they go through a roadtrip through the united states (slow burn, as a non american its super fun read, 1 chapter away from finishing)

Where the apple falls - CURRENTLY MY FAVOURITE ONGOING FIC its a really good post s8/post finale fic (again as someone who just knows the vaguest stuff about s8 i could understand it) ITS SO FUCKING GOOD OUGH...makes me cry every chapter (in a good way) i have done fanart for this one i really love the focus on keith (since a lot of stories are lance pov which i also love) the author is on tumblr @jupiters-junipers go follow them!! okay enough yapping i love this fic

A Vigilante and an Influencer: What Could go Wrong? - this one's another really fun modern au type deal thats keith pov (with a lance pov version being written atm actually!) :D

Roses and Waves - a soulmate au that uses my favourite soulmate trope(?) soul identifying marks. really chill but fun read :D

A love bug fic!? - this one's fun and obvs a love bug fic i really like the world the author's made

But Someday I'll Be Perfect (And I'll Make Up For It All) - MY FAVOURITE ONESHOT. OF ALL TIME. AND I MEAN IT I MEAN IT. i have printed this one out and glued it into my sketchbook i love it so much... i will recommend this fic til the day i die, i cannot put into words how much i love this one even if you dont like voltron or klance i think you could appreciate the writing. AUTHOR IS ON TUMBLR @autisticlancemcclain (their blog linked at the end of the fic)

Dear Reader - this one's a fun college au that includes tumblr as a main plot point :D - author's tumblr @heavilycaffeinatedsblog

And The Words Are Stuck In My Throat (But You Hear Them Anyway) - another one shot i really love by @autisticlancemcclain

And The Red on My Face (Matches you) - More by @autisticlancemcclain (man i'm realising a lot of my favs are done by them lol) this time it has a few chapters (though i think its unfinished?)

smokey the bear cant stop us now - Keith and lance are forest rangers. i havent re-read this one in a lil while but i remember loving it, i love the setting and the author actually got a job as a forest ranger half way through it iirc? unfinished but i 4000% recomend

Marked - another soulmark au, this time i really enjoy this one too

thats all from me for recs for now! yippe thank you for asking i'm always up for giving recs! :3