#I spent exactly 5 minutes in photoshop for this | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yakumtsaki · 5 years

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Alright you guys, sorry for the delay, I’ve had to restart this post 20 fucking times because my changes weren’t being saved in the draft and then I kept getting the ‘upload failed’ error. In case you don’t remember wtf is going on you might wanna re-read the last update (I certainly had to) which is apparently from JUNE 2018. Jfc I suck so hard. Now this was gonna be really long but tumblr wouldn’t post it so I’m breaking it up in 3 parts, part 2 to be posted tomorrow. For those that don’t feel like reading back, general recap of the last couple updates:

Jojo cheated on Wyatt with Max Flexor and my solution to that marital crisis was to adopt our first dog ever, a puppy hilariously named Maxx.

The puppy grew up to be an asshole and is constantly beating up the cats, who have turned into giant pussies (no pun intended) and are losing every fight to him despite the fact they’re named after Mortal Kombat characters. They’re a fucking disgrace to Alegra’s/Victor’s/Ronroneo’s memory and I haven’t settled on a cat heir yet because they both suck.

Jojo is perma miserable, I don’t even remember how much money away from his 100k LTW, and still not a werewolf despite my pathologically persistent attempts to make him friends with the wolf.

Fucking useless Wyatt didn’t get promoted while Komei was alive providing us with his 100 townie friends, we spent 20 updates befriending every rando that crossed our lot to secure his promotion, and then finally on the day he was supposed to become Captain Hero, Wyatt got, of course, fired and is now on track to take longer to complete his literal career based LTW than Komei took to get 6 pets on the top of their careers.

Absolutely everyone hates noogie addict Shajar, she got a Kylo Ren makeover, and we still don’t know what her sexual orientation is thanks to her ridiculous fitness/fatness turn ons and cleanliness turn off.

Golden child/10 nice points freakshow Cyneswith grew up, rolled romance with the most disturbing turn-ons/offs possible (grey hair/mechanical & charisma turn off) and the 20 simultaneous lovers LTW.

Wulf grew up into a kid, got an Amadeus makeover, is officially a Wyatt clone and the only member of this family I don’t completely hate yet.

Now I’d like to begin the first Union post in more than a year by requesting you do me a solid and lower your expectations for this thing as far down as humanly possible. Like really try to recreate the Jules Verne classic “Journey to the Center of the Earth” with your expectations here, because my brain is so fucking fried that there’s a 20% chance I randomly start citing sources at some point during this post. This grad school crap has seriously been the worst trade deal in the history of trade deals, maybe ever. And speaking of bad trade deals, let’s get this update rolling with the man, the myth, the legend, the husband who managed to make Komei look like a dreamboat in comparison..

..Wyatt fucking Union, née Monif. It’s been a long time, but I’m not gonna lie to you Wyatt, not nearly long enough. Looking good man, just one small question, where the fuck are your eyebrows?

-You àccidéntally deléted thém, imbécilé, et I cannôt exprèss my irritatiόn prόperly becausé I hàve non eyebrôws!

Did your selective French accent get thicker this past year or is it just me?

-It géts thickér whén je suis distrésséd, givé moi mon eyebrôws bàcc!!!

No can do, brother. Actually can do, but I think the Mona Lisa look is working for you, and more importantly I still hate you, so I’m just gonna hardcore ignore you for the rest of this post if that’s ok. Talk to me when you finally get promoted, aka never the way this shit is going.

-Non! NON! MON EYEBROWS!

It’s been lovely catching up.

Jojό I mean Jojo, goddammit Wyatt, is spending most of his time building robots in the mausoleum (sweet hipster band name alert)..

..giving financial advice in Shajar’s room (inb4 what’s the difference between the mausoleum and Shajar’s room)..

..building evil snowmen alone in the middle of the night, like all mentally healthy middle aged men with 3 kids are wont to do..

..and getting the piss harassed out of him by the cat ghosts in the bathroom (sweet hipster band name alert #2). How is this like the fourth time this happens in the exact same spot, will you just stop autonomously cleaning the bathroom after midnight? It’s obviously where the cats hang out, give it the fuck up already.

-I’m actively TRYING TO DIE you absolute moron, what does a guy have to do to get killed around here?

Yea can’t say that I blame you but not happening, you can commit suicide by Ghost Alegra after the kids fuck off to college, ok? I promise.

-Oh like you promised me being heir was a route worth pursuing??

Um obviously you too need to go back and re-read your own life story, because I spent the entirety of our “““cherished””” time together telling you heirship is a shitty gig at generation 2. And then to top it off you went and married Wyatt to ensure maximum shittiness, so there you go, fucking enjoy. God I am so sick of both of you losers and we’re only 5 pics in. Let’s check in with your spawn, I’m sure they can’t possibly be more annoying than their parents-

-oh right, I forgot, this is the generation with 10/10/9 active points where the party never stops. Cyneswith are you somehow twerking to classical music?

-How else am I gonna attract all those hot senior citizens per my grey hair turn on and 20 lovers LTW?

Ok great yea I see how this is gonna go, you’re trying to entice people into voting you for heir based on how torturous playing this fucked up LTW is gonna be for me, well forget it, my readers are intellectuals and completely above such petty entertainment. (istg mofos, don’t even think about it, i already did Komei’s 5 pets career shit, i will burn this place to the ground if you saddle me with Cyneswith banging the elderly for 30 years)

-No need to worry your stupid little head, I will beat Cyneswith for HEIR just like I beat her HAIR up daily! HAHA!

Shajar no offense but you’re a fucking war crime of a sim, nearly everyone who’s ever met you hates you including your parents, and the fact that you’re the alternative here is really not helping my situation in any way. Also how the fuck are you gonna be heir when the only thing you seem to be attracted to is giving noogies, you’re like one week away from college and I still don’t even know if you’re str8 or gay or bi or w/e the fuck you are. You have Jojo’s personality combined with..

..yes exactly, DANIEL’S SOCIAL ABILITIES. I mean I was joking with the whole ‘Shajar’s the spawn of Satan’ thing, but this combo of traits was clearly drawn up in Hell’s boardroom.

ANYWAY. It’s a snowy Sunday morning, and anyone who has been a teen knows what that means:

Time to go clubbing! Man I remember being like 15, waking up on a freezing Sunday morning and my mom making me a cup of hot chocolate before I drove off to the club. Those were the days.

-Uh, Shaj, when did you learn how to drive?

-Don’t be stupid, Cyneswith, people don’t need to ‘learn’ how to drive.

-They absolutely do, actually.

-Well what can I tell you, the dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.

-Here we are, safe and sound! Celebratory noogie!

-YOU RAN OVER 9 PEOPLE

-How many times to I have to explain this to you, Apartment Life townies are not people.

Can’t argue with that logic. Let’s just go in and find out what Shajar’s sexual orientation is once and for all so I can spend the rest of this update aggressively promoting Wulf’s candidacy.

Now I consider ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ one of the dumbest sayings there is, but even I have to concede that this particular picture truly is worth a thousand words. Quick poll, what is more horrifying, Shajar’s literal Joker face or Cyneswith, whom I’ve never seen read a book ever, autonomously pulling one out in the middle of the dance floor, in what I can only assume is an attempt to attract old perverts with the schoolgirl routine?

And I know what some of you are thinking, you’re like ‘bro, you’re just reaching to make a bad joke bro, Cyneswith is just a sweet nice introvert and not like other girls, she doesn’t feel comfortable in the club’, well to that let me reply with another picture that is worth a thousand words:

Yea that’s right, on the first minute of our first time out WE RUN INTO THAT ONE ELDER TOWNIE THAT HAS WRINKLE MAKE UP ON. GODDAMMIT CYNESWITH

Do you guys remember how Jojo was obsessed with Stephen Tinker as a teen? Are you seeing the connection here?? Those kids have literally inherited the worst possible traits from both their parents turned up to 11, it’s fucking unreal.

Right after I get over Wrinkle’s presence I turn around and what do I see, those 2, who have never had a non-noogie physical interaction, autonomously doing the family kiss thing. I didn’t even catch it on time because I was loling irl, we came out here so these assholes can find age-appropriate partners, and instead they’re kissing each other. Seems about right with this family, and clearly Striped Scarf’s dumb ass ships it.

-They look so much alike, it’s meant to be!

Yes, and they even share the same last name! Talk about written in the stars.

Thankfully Abhijeet is here to save us from incest by perving on Cyneswith. GTFO ABHIJEET. Anyone like ‘bro townies just autonomously come to greet your sims on community lots regardless of age, stop calling them perverts’, see you in about 5 pics down.

I try to have Shajar chat up Striped Scarf and suffice it to say Shaj ~stole her heart~ and presumably put it on this stick to wave around.

NO. CYNESWITH NO. I’m seriously having déjà vu of all the times I was like ‘NO. JOJO NO’, jfc.

Shajar is unsurprisingly exhibiting no interest in socializing with anyone around her, instead she’s trying every activity this terribly lit place has to offer, and she looks demented while doing it:

I’m feeling a primal urge to photoshop Darth Vader’s melted helmet on the bowling ball here, someone please remind me to do it for the heir vote photoshoot.

-HA. SUCK IT DENISE JACQUET

That’s Denise Jacquet?! I can’t tell who anyone is for shit anymore. The default replacements are a scourge upon premade brands, I’m getting rid of them pronto. Speaking of scourges, where the hell is your sister?

-Who cares?

I wanna say ‘me’ but we both know that’s a lie.

Oh ok, THERE SHE IS.

-So you see Cyneswith, just because something is technically ‘illegal’, doesn’t mean it’s morally wrong-

Yea yea fascinating stuff, now get out of the hot tub or I will fucking neuter you, I don’t know if a eunuch mod already exists for medieval games but I will make one if it doesn’t.

Here, Cyneswith, drink some water, have a nice G-rated convo with your sister about violins and stop pissing me off.

-First of all this is straight vodka.

Great.

-Secondly Shajar is talking about Mozart’s coprophilia.

-I sure am.

Amazing. Well, I guess it’s at times like these when you need to look inside your heart and truly ask yourself, what did you expect from Jojo’s children.

ABHIJEET ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME DID YOU EVEN HEAR ME TALK ABOUT CASTRATION

-Ha, I went home and put on my most elderly-looking formal wear!

-I hate to see you go but I love to watch you leave Ab <3

CYNESWITH SHUT UP. I can’t believe you people are actually making me miss Gunther’s teenage whoring, at least he kept it age appropriate.

-Is some random lady pressing her breasts against my head?

She most certainly is, Shajar, because it is now crystal clear that this bowling alley doubles as the site of annual perv townie convention and we walked right into it-

-and it’s also clear we have serious issues and are enjoying ourselves. Shaj I legit don’t know what to tell you, this is the first time you get along with someone right away and it just had to be the adult with the bad haircut and the flasher’s trench coat???

-You’re damn right it did.

Alright then, I’m officially going to nope out of this situation, safe in the knowledge you’re a noogiesexual and nothing will actually happen with this freak, so I’ll focus on Cyneswith instead who is much more of a loose canon.

Here Cyn, talk to this guy, who I’m 90% sure is the same guy your father rejected in favor of stalking Stephen Tinker when he was your age.

-Ohhhh, he’s dreamy!

Omg really?? Halleluj-

-oh never mind, you were of course referring to adult ass Brandon Lillard. I do like that our townies have recurring roles each generation, we should make rejecting Blondie a rite of passage in this family. We should also officially gtfo because this is happening:

-Um, now that I’m looking at you in harsher lighting, it’s gonna be a no from me dawg.

Oh, thank the fucking lord.

-Let’s celebrate the fact we didn’t get hopelessly obsessed with any adults here by doing the traditional Dance of Normality!

-We beat Dad’s genes, we beat Dad’s genes!

-We’re normal!

Yes, and we’re definitely showing it. Can we please leave now so I can make sure I’ve uninstalled Inteenminator and turn off free will?

-Nop! Venue change!

-Got-out-of-the-car celebratory noogie!

-Made-it-to-the-door celebratory noogie!

Shajar you unironically have a noogie addiction, I’m not kidding in the slightest, you need to see a doctor.

Great, great, not another teen in sight and to top it off Denise followed us here to ensure maximum elder presence. I feel comfortable officially declaring this day a complete waste of time.

God, the vintage pink dress and the pink alcohol combo is some straight up current era Taylor Swift nonsense. That’s it, we’re outta here, back home where no one is lurking, waiting to strike at us-

-SOPHIE NOOOOOOOOOOOO💔💔💔💔💔

-The Lord is my shepherd.

NO HE ISN’T EVERYONE KNOWS YOU CAN’T HERD CATS PLEASE DON’T DIE

-Nop, I’m over it. Goodbye heathens, it’s been nice, hope you don’t find your paradise.

UGH SOPHIE, my beloved Westboro lunatic, the last gangsta generation 1 cat we had.. I can’t believe you’re gone and all I’m left with is stupid Goro and D’vorah who can’t even beat up the fucking dog. This is truly painful.

Yes, pets, I agree, Kaylynn is completely to blame for Sophie dying of old age. The time has now come to decide on a cat heir-

-and since Goro ran away like a little bitch after Sophie’s death despite the fact he didn’t even like her, he’s automatically disqualified and will be going off to live on Melody and Daniel’s farm once returned to us. Congratulations to D’vorah I guess, on being the least terrible of two terrible options.

On the topic of terrible heir options, Cyn has non-stop wants to go on dates and have her first kiss and all that crap, and since our Sunday morning clubbing was a bust we invite over the matchmaker.

-Hello there young Union, I see your house has been upgraded since I was last here.

Oh right we haven’t required your services since Daniel was a teen and we lived in a trailer, well we are flush with cash now!

-Hopefully your payment reflects that.

It will!! Just please give us someone good, I can’t deal with single teen Cyn for one more second.

-Oh my, what a beautiful BLANK PIECE OF PAPER.

WHAT!? NO THAT’S 5K IT’S JUST A SNOW GLITCH

-What do I look like to you, a money thawing service?

Does such a service.. exist??

-It does not, so I have to go home and use a hairdryer on this!

Just come inside and we’ll give you non-frozen money!

-No, no, you’ll get what you paid for..

-Have a magical time!

...

.........

......................

Lakshmi this was so fucking evil that I almost want to age you down and see if you and Shajar hit it off.

-As if, the whole neighborhood knows what you did to Komei.

Helped him achieve his insane 6-pets-career LTW?

-Turned him into a servant while your sim was lounging around all day!

Oh yea I did do that. But Wyatt was also a townie and he does literally nothing, Jojo is the servant now!

-Only because Wyatt is too fucking stupid to do things! Word has gotten out, no townie will ever marry in this family again unless they’re brain dead, so it’s Wyatts only for you from now on, sister!

Well this has been a complete fucking disaster. It was great seeing you again, Lakshmi, thanks for the dream date with the adult farting machine, 5k well-spent.

Pretty sure it was you bro, and yes, how about we don’t do that again.

Wyatt has brought over Amanda from work! (Aka Victoria’s only friend and subsequent lesbian lover, who is really pretty and is definitely getting married in at some point, preferably after the brown hair genes have been weakened so we can go back to being gingers.)

-Wow Shajar, your grandmother, God rest her soul, mentioned you were her favorite and now I can see why! Loving the Kylo Ren look!

-Is someone being genuinely nice to me?! What is happening?

-Yes, please stop being nice to her, Amanda, we don’t want her getting used to it.

Jojo istg.

-Cyneswith dear, tell Amanda all about how much money your grandmother left you so she can stop being nice to Shajar.

-Soooo much money, Miss Amanda!

-Ah, what a polite child I’ve single-handedly raised.

-Now, Cyneswith, you really need to get back on the dating scene so you have ample time to find the perfect spouse and continue our line, since you’re clearly the only one of my children that is remotely heir material.

-Dad, Shajar and Wulf are right next to you.

-Oh they are? I’m wearing my special contact lenses that make those disappointments invisible to me, but even better, they need to hear this. Shajar is a noogiesexual and thus incapable of reproduction, and Wulf is not even a Union, I mean have you seen that kid? Wyatt reproduced by himself like the amoeba he is. Now, your grandmother-

-YOU MENTIONED ME 3 TIMES AND HERE I AM

OH FUCK VICTORIA, deleting the default replacements gave you base game hair!!!!

-That’s the part you’re scared by, not my Beetlejuicesque entrance?

There’s literally nothing scarier than your ghost sporting this haircut for all eternity, I’m re-downloading that default immediately.

-Oh mom, so good to see you! Let me just hug my beloved child, Shijer-

-Shajar, dad.

-SHAJAR, let me hug Shajar, like I do all the time.

-I’m glad to see you’re not picking favorites among your children like I did, the way I treated David-

-Daniel, mom.

-DANIEL, is the one thing I’ve truly been regretting in the afterlife. That and not skinning Marisa Bendett alive when I had the chance.

-Well, as you can see by Shajar’s totally normal and not at all shocked reaction to my hug, I am a wonderful, fair, and emotionally available father.

(Bruh this freaked me out so much when it happened, I mean I KNOW it’s an animation glitch but I was convinced my sims had become sentient for a good while after)

-Is your grandmother’s ghost still on the premises?

-Yup.

-When will this nightmare end, paying attention to you is the worst.

-Ok she’s gone.

-FINALLY. Now it’s back to the crypt for you, and don’t you dare go complain to her urn!

-Ah, Stephen, Stephen, my life is crap and I can’t even🎵

And with the knowledge you have composed a theme song for Stephen Tinker, part 1 of the Union comeback update is concluded. Will Shajar’s sexual orientation reveal itself? Will Cyneswith find true love? Will Jojo become a werewolf? Will Wulf continue to be the only dignified member of this family? Will D’vorah have kittens? Will Wyatt do literally anything worth mentioning? Tune in for parts 2 & 3 to find out, unfollow button on the upper right corner for those who need it.

#gen 2 #ts2

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roonil-wazlib-at-221b · 4 years

Text

Inferno: Part 3

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

God I love Peter Parker so much. Anyways, he’s a dork even when he’s Spiderman. This is so fluffy I’m gonna get cavities. I have so many great ideas for next chapter! Also, I lied; there’s gonna be at least 5 parts.

You’re thankful for your fans. You really are. A good majority of them are sweet, caring individuals completely appalled at the blatant lies the American government sent out as a reason for your arrest. It’s nice to see people promoting positivity.

Unfortunately, being rich and having fans can sometimes lead people to hate you for no other reasons. You’re not saying there are rich people that don’t deserve to be loathed. Of course not. And maybe you do deserve to be hated. You’ve certainly done enough questionable stuff.

But at this point scrolling through your notifications feels like playing Russian Roulette with every chamber loaded.

cap2n/merica: Hey @Y/N_Stark, just do us all a favor and turn yourself into the authorities before you start melting people again.

bigbossbitch: @Y/N_Stark is another case of gross celebrity misconduct. Yes, her jail time was wrong, but now that she’s been released she’s just another spoiled celeb kid born with a silver spoon in her mouth. She gets away with murder just like her father does because of their wealth and it’s a sign of the American government’s (1/2)

You don’t feel like finding the second part of that tweet.

givemebackmymeat: @Y/N_Stark is an ice bitch

Stacey-Toland: yeah it’s great and all that New York gets Spiderman and @Y/N_Stark , but if they really cared about people they would branch out and help people in cities with a lot more crime. New York doesn’t need the Avengers, Spiderman, AND Inferno!

just-a-dumbass: y’all Inferno is the dumbest superhero name i’ve heard in a long time @Y/N_Stark

With a sigh, you turn your phone off. The public outcry will quiet down after the official statements are released. Everyone needs some time to cool off.

The pesky bandages on your hip crinkle as you sit up. You rip them off without looking. Tony insisted that you wear them last night after Helen Cho fished the bullet out of your hip. There’s no pain this morning, and you don’t even need to check to know there’s no scar.

The temptation is too great. Maybe you’re a masochist. You grab the phone before sitting down on the toilet, determined to find at least one positive comment about you in your feed. You try Instagram instead of Twitter this time. Since your public appearance last night, comments on your last post about a year ago have been flooding in.

spideyismydaddy: hey @The-Official-Spiderman what do you think about @Y/N_Stark? She invading your territory or what?

You click on @The-Official-Spiderman. It’s got to be a spoof or fan account, right? Sure enough, the account isn’t verified. You almost swipe out of it but your eyes catch on some of the photos he’s got uploaded. Either he’s super good at photoshop, or...

Is this really Spiderman’s account?

The photos look exactly like the crime-fighting spider you’d encountered last night. He doesn’t have a recent story that you can watch, but he does have a highlight story that you click on. In the first one, he does a backflip. The second clip is of him racing a train and winning. The third one is a pretty picture of the sunset.

You rest your hand on your cheek. Before you know it, you’ve watched his entire highlight story and wasted fifteen minutes sitting on the toilet.

“Miss Stark, your father wanted me to inform you that breakfast is ready,” FRIDAY says, making you jump a little bit. At first it had been a struggle to stop talking to her. The amount of times you’d say, “FRIDAY, turn off the lights,” or “FRIDAY, what time is it?” is a little bit embarrassing. No doubt how many times she’ll startle you will be embarrassing too.

“Sure,” you grunt, throwing a MIT sweatshirt on and shoving your phone in its pocket. “Coming.”

“Morning, sweetie,” Tony says cheerfully, attempting a smile when he looks at you. “I made your favorite—waffles.”

“Great.” You try a smile yourself. “I haven’t—that’s—thanks, Dad.” You’d been about to comment that you haven’t had waffles for over a year, but that would probably bring down both your spirits.

“How are you feeling?”

“Fine.” You take a big bite of waffle and look as innocently as you can at your father. “Just peachy.”

Tony gestures to his own hip. “No... pain? Bleeding? Scar?”

You shake your head and shrug. “Healed overnight.”

“Good.” Your dad actually fiddles with his fingers as you take another bite. “I, um... I don’t know what you want to do.”

I want to spend time with you is the first thing that crosses your mind but it sounds way too sappy and weak. You settle on a shrug. The familiar fire under your skin wavers and you scowl to bring it back to a simmer.

The next time they try to take you away, you’ll be prepared. Even if you have to take out thousands of agents. But you can’t let go of your anger for even a second.

“I have an idea,” you say after another awkward silence, struck with a great idea that would involve time with your dad but doesn’t involve actually asking for it outright. “I couldn’t keep up with all the new shows and movies that came out. Maybe we could get Disney+ and, I don’t know, watch The Mandalorian? I saw a lot of Baby Yoda memes online and it looks like a cool show.”

“That’s the new Star Wars show that came out, right?” Tony checks. “With the ugly green baby?”

“Hey! He’s not ugly!”

“Well,” he starts. You already know he’s about to suggest a bad idea. “Star Wars is probably Parker’s expertise. Considering both of us won’t know what’s going on, maybe we should call him and have him here? Just to translate the nerd stuff to the non-nerds?”

The hand holding your waffle clenches. You should have known that Tony would try to involve his precious Peter Parker so he wouldn’t have to spend time alone with you.

The waffle starts to smoke and you drop it with disgust. “I’m going to the training room.”

“Come on, Y/N—” Tony starts but you stomp off. Why won’t you understand that he just wants you to make a friend? He’s not trying to replace you with Peter—he’s trying to get you to replace Tony, at least a little bit, with Peter.

Tony eyes the waffle you hadn’t finished. A clear outline of fingers is burnt onto its surface.

You stalk through the compound angrily, halfway expecting a team member to jump out at you. You were the last one to be released, after all. Then again, they’re all under house arrest or on the run. But what about the ones that had sided with Tony? “Where are they?” You’d love to run drills with Nat or talk with Rhodey.

“Tony cleared his schedule for the next week,” FRIDAY informs you. “He wanted this to be a more relaxed homecoming so you wouldn’t be overwhelmed before more enthusiastic well-wishers arrived.”

“He cleared out his schedule for everyone except Peter fuckin’ Parker,” you mutter. Jesus, how important is this kid to Tony? First he never stops talking about him to you, takes him to pick you up from jail, and now he’s banned everyone but him from the compound?

For lack of sparring partners, you decide that lifting weights and running on the treadmill wouldn’t be too bad. Thankfully your muscles didn’t atrophy too much while you were locked up, though you rarely mustered the energy for exercises. You left the heat simmering under your skin at all hours. Judging by how many times you woke up to singed blankets, you started doing it in your sleep too.

No doubt due to the Extremis, you can lift every weight in the weight room—together. It’s too easy, so you move to the treadmill.

Your feet pound on the track. With every step, another thought bombards your mind: Peter Parker smiling, how you spent three months in the cage before they consented to giving you a plant, the cell smaller than your whole bed, you never even saw the sun for months, Tony coming to brag about Peter fucking Parker—

Only when your foot hits the ground do you realize that you’re running hot. “Shit,” you mutter, reaching for the ‘off’ button. Your whole body is glowing bright red and instead of turning off, the keypad melts at your touch just like how your shoes had melted off and how the track is hardly more than a melted pile of goo around your red-hot feet. The poor treadmill gurgles unhappily and its gears stop churning.

“Miss Stark, you are not wearing your fireproof clothes,” FRIDAY points out.

“Yeah, I got that, FRI,” you respond through gritted teeth, closing your eyes and taking a deep breath. You need to calm down before your clothes burst into flame.

The red hue to your skin fades slightly.

You need to get your excess anger out. And you know exactly how to do that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some guy swings a metal bar into your face. Something definitely cracks but heals within seconds, so quickly you almost don’t register the pain. It doesn’t slow you down, anyway, and you grab the man’s arm before he can whack you again with the bar. You slam his head against the side of a brick building and he slumps to the ground. If he doesn’t wake up in thirty seconds, you’ve either given him brain damage or flat-out killed him. You can’t find it in yourself to care.

Before you can turn around, your back burns. Not the comforting burn of your anger, but a stinging burn that takes your breath away.

You turn around slowly. The man’s partner backs away, his hands in the air as a scared expression takes over his face.

You reach behind you. Your hand hits something hard that makes the pain in your back worse. It’s the handle of a knife, you presume. With a wince, you pull it out of your back. The blade is dark with blood that you already feel dripping down your back. The wound will knit together, scab, scar, and fade. A body’s week- or month-long process of healing occurring in seconds.

You’re not thinking when you brandish the weapon, but thankfully a weird thwip sound interrupts you. The man’s raised hands find themselves stuck against a wall by a white, sticky substance.

“Shit!” a vaguely familiar voice hisses after a second thwip. “Oh Jesus! You killed him!”

You turn around. The man you’d knocked against the wall still hasn’t moved, but there’s a dark puddle spreading around his head. Spider-man takes a quick look at him, shakes his head, and looks at you.

“And you got stabbed!” Sounding sort of like a smothering grandmother, he spins you around and lifts up your shirt. “Oh, shit, that’s a lot of blood...”

“The wound’s probably closed by now,” you mutter. The ground sort of leans away from your feet and strong arms wrap around your waist as something swipes at your back.

“I don’t see an opening.” He gingerly takes the knife from your hand places it on the ground. Then you find that the ground is underneath your butt. Spider-man’s mask swims in your vision.

“I killed him?” you ask blearily. Shit. You can’t afford to be murdering people not two days after being released from prison. They’ll send you back. They’ll lock you in that cage! Is Spider-man here with them? You smack his hands away. He’s here to get you, he’s here to take you—

“Whoa, whoa, let’s calm down a little bit,” Spidey says beseechingly. “You don’t have any wounds, but you lost a lot of blood.”

“It’ll replenish soon,” you mutter. After some sugar. Sustenance. That would help. As if he’d heard your thoughts, Spidey waves something in front of you. It takes a hot second for your eyes to focus on it, but when you realize it’s a churro your mouth waters.

“I did not mean for this to go this way,” he mutters. Almost shyly, he thrusts it at you, saying, “Here. I got it for you.”

You’re not one to refuse free food. If he’s poisoned it, chances are the poison won’t affect you much, anyway. You’ll take your chances.

You wolf the churro down in record time. Now that you’re feeling less woozy, knots are starting to form in your stomach. Spider-man, a superhero largely known for helping people out, just witnessed you accidentally murdering someone.

And you just murdered someone. You need to take that knife and burn it in an alley far from here and toss it in the trash.

Heat rises in your cheeks, but it’s not anger-heat that can be used as a weapon or self-defense. Letting Spider-man see you like that is embarrassing.

“Are you feeling better? I can get you another churro, if you’d like, or maybe a burrito, I think I have enough cash for that...” Spider-man reaches into his back pocket, but maybe his tone is too light, maybe he’s not being nice and he’s trying to lull you into a false sense of safety.

Quick as a whip, you take the knife and hold it in Spider-man’s direction. The superhero falls back, his voice cracking as he exclaims, “Hey! Whoa! Please don’t stick me with that! Do you have any idea the potential ramifications of mixing blood? Not that I think you have STDs or something, but still, I could still get alien bacteria in me! The Extremis is still in your system, right? Well, of course it is! I really don’t need that in me because it might make me blow up! Please—”

You blink. He sounds like a kid. Like someone your age. He’s in no way your father’s age. And he’s definitely not a threat. “Relax.” You close your fist around the knife and channel your anger into that extremity. It melts within seconds and drips to the ground. You shake your hand of the last bit of molten metal and allow the flesh to return to regular temperature. “You’re not going to hurt me for killing him?” Your heart still races in his presence, but it’s starting to calm down.

“I saw everything.” Spider-man stands up awkwardly, especially for someone that can do backflips and crawl up walls, and points up to the top of a nearby skyscraper. “They attacked you. It was self-defense. Besides, these two killed a bystander in a shootout recently. I’m not saying they deserved it, because that would be really mean to say, but I’m also not saying that you’re a terrible person. You know?”

“You certainly talk a lot,” you comment. It’s amusing.

“Do you want me to stop talking?” Spider-man rubs his neck. “I know it can be annoying. My friends—”

You shrug. “Why were you watching?”

“Well, last night you got shot, right? And I see you out again fighting crime. So I’m like, ‘Holy crap, is she in pain, she’s probably not all right, maybe she’s getting mugged because she slept on the streets because I didn’t help her when she got shot in the hip and then you slammed that dude against the wall and I saw the other dude stab you and—”

“Yeah, yeah, I get the point.” You stuff your hands in your pockets. “It was my fault, anyway. If I was wearing my suit the knife wouldn’t have gotten so deep in. It probably wouldn’t have gotten in at all.”

“Why are you just wearing a MIT sweatshirt and sweatpants, by the way?”

You shrug. “Couldn’t be bothered to change.”

“Well, I think you’re going to have to now. There’s a big hole in your sweatshirt and your whole back is bloody.”

“Shit,” you mutter. “But that’ll lead people back to... him.” You shoot a glance at the dead man. “And he’s going to snitch on me.” You shoot a nervous glance at Spider-man. You have no idea how he’ll react to you considering a tied-up would-be mugger.

Spider-man shakes his head. “People will see my webs. They’ll blame me.”

“So we’ll both be blamed,” you say grimly. “Great.”

“Yeah, The Daily Bugle is going to have a field day. But we should get out of here.” Spider-man puts a hand on the small of your back (right where you’d been stabbed) and gently applies just enough pressure to get you moving. Shocked at the gentlemanly gesture, you take a few steps before remembering your bloodstained clothes. “I’ll get you new ones,” Spider-man says grimly when you voice your concern. “But then I won’t be able to get you a burrito.”

The sweet concern is touching. “It’s really okay,” you say. If you had your credit card, or any cash on you, you’d buy the poor boy as many burritos as he wanted. “You gave me your churro. You’ve done more than enough.”

“Well, I wanted to make a good impression!” His voice cracks again.

“Really?” you shoot him a glance out of the corner of your eye. “Why?”

“I don’t know a lot of other teenaged superheroes,” he shrugs. “I thought we could be friends.”

See, Dad? You think viciously. I can make friends without your interference. I’ve found a friend loads better than Peter Parker. “Get me a change of clothes and we’ll talk.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“A radioactive spider, huh?”

“Yeah. And I know all about the Extremis. Killian.”

“Yeah. He murdered my mother and then tried to blow me up but my body didn’t reject the serum.”

“Oh, shit. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Your mother’s death is like a bruise; tender when you poke at it but livable with. “What about your parents?”

“Oh, they’re both dead.” Spider-man gives you a half-shrug. “I live with my aunt. My uncle used to live with us until he died.”

“Shit, dude.” You lay down on the skyscraper, hesitant, and fold your hands together over your stomach clad in the I <3 NEW YORK sweatshirt Spider-man bought you. Goosebumps rise on your exposed legs, courtesy of the NEW YORK sleep shorts he’d barely had enough money to buy at that sleazy mart. What would you want someone to say to you?

“Like you said. I’ve dealt.” Spider-man lies down next to you, watching the sun set.

“I guess we kinda have to be friends, right?” You say after a brief pause of silence. “We got all the heavy stuff out of the way.”

“Sweet!” His phone buzzes. He pulls it out and types a quick text to someone. You presume his aunt, considering that’s the only family he has. Or one of his friends.

You can hear the smile in his voice and it makes a smile spread across your face too. For the first time you feel the wind whipping and realize you’re not angry. You call the heat back immediately, both to warm yourself and to protect yourself. What if—?

“Can I do a livestream?” Spider-man props himself up on his elbow and holds up his phone, which displays his Instagram page.

“Sure?”

Spider-man rolls up his suit to just under his nose and starts recording a video. You notice he lowers his voice slightly, probably to make himself seem more mature, and roll your eyes. “Hey guys! You’ll never believe who I’m with right now.”

Immediately comments start to roll in and people start sending emojis, mainly hearts.

You wave at the camera before unlocking your phone and following him on Instagram, now that you know it is actually him. A minute ago you’d gotten the notification he’d followed you, so you figured it was only fair.

Spider-man starts to do a run-down of his day, leaving out the man you’d killed. “Then I gave Inferno here a churro and we went shopping because we’re besties.” He nudges you with his arm. “No, but seriously, we had to burn her clothes. I can’t believe that dude threw her in the dumpster. It was disgusting.”

You wrinkle your nose at the camera, actually enjoying playing along. It does make you wonder exactly how much he says on his social media is a cover-up of some sinister stuff. He seems perfectly fine at lying about why you needed new clothes.

“Okay, now I’ll answer some questions...” Spider-man browses the flood of questions. “Okay, well, you guys know I can’t just tell you my name. No, I haven’t seen Iron Man recently. No, I’m not an Avenger. Still. And no, I do not have a girlfriend... Why is everyone asking if Inferno is—no, she’s not!” His voice cracks again and you glance curiously at him, tucking your wild hair behind your ear. The wind is whipping it everywhere.

“What?”

Spider-man just waves a hand at you. “I can’t tell you guys my schedule, either, because the bad guys will take advantage of it. You guys know that. Sheesh. Okay, well, since you guys are being jealous and immature, I’m going to log off now. Bye!”

“Let me guess,” you say sarcastically. “Mostly female fans, huh?”

“It’ll be such a shock when they all find out I’m gay,” Spider-man jokes. At least, you think he’s kidding. After a beat, he clarifies. “I’m not. By the way.”

You shrug and transfer your gaze back to the skyline. The sky is starting to turn orange and pink. “I wouldn’t really care if you were.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Hey, you know what isn’t fair?”

“What?”

“You obviously know who I am. Everyone does.” Not to sound conceited or anything, Y/N, good going... “But the only thing I know about you is that your parents and uncle are dead and you got your powers from a radioactive spider.”

So what, you’re curious about who’s under the mask. Sue you.

“My middle name is Benjamin,” Spidey suggests. “But I’m not going to tell you the rest of it.”

“So I should refer to you as Benjamin?” You don’t take your eyes off the horizon, not wanting to seem or sound pushy.

“Please don’t.” You giggle as he pretends to gag. “You can call me Spidey. I know Spider-man is a long title. As long as I get to call you Y/N instead of Inferno.”

“Sure thing... Benjamin.”

“I should not have told you that,” Spidey sighs. “Um, what else... I, uh, go to high school.”

You nod. “I should still be in high school.”

“You graduated high school when you were fifteen and went to MIT, same as your dad, for two years, same as your dad, and graduated college summa cum laude...”

“Also same as my dad.” You sigh.

“Sorry. I’m just... kind of a fan.”

A weird warm feeling spreads in your stomach, but it’s not Extremis-heat. “That’s okay.”

“And then you were arrested.” Spidey’s tone turns a little bit dark. “You turned eighteen in the Raft.”

“Happy birthday to me,” you sigh.

“It was shitty what happened to you.”

“I’m out now.”

“Still,” he persists. “It sucks I can’t make it better.”

You laugh. “What would you do? We only became friends maybe fifteen minutes ago.”

Spidey sighs. “I know. It just sucks, right? All these powers and we still can barely make a difference in the world.”

You sit up halfway, propped up by your arm. Desperate to make the subject lighter, you say, “Speaking of powers. I know you’re sticky and all. What else?”

“Fast and strong.” Spidey shrugs. “Not much else.”

“Wanna race?”

Inferno Taglist:

@paullrud @eridanuswave @loveissupernatural @moistpotatobear @oh-annaa

Peter Parker x Reader Taglist:

@iconicbabesss

Forever Taglist:

@lemirabitur @annymcervantes @queenmissfit @quiet-because-it-is-a-secret @iksey @thehyperactiveteen @luxmoonlight

#peter parker #Peter Benjamin Parker #peter parker fic #peter parker fanfic #peter parker fanfiction #reader insert #peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #reader x peter parker #you x peter parker #tony stark #stark!reader

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saysomethingspiderman · 5 years

Text

Something Wonderful (PT. 5)

Synopsis: During your time as a professional photographer, you had come across incredibly good looking men, but there was just something about Tom that stood out. Who would have thought shooting the self-titled “walking meme” would change your life forever?

Chapter word count: 6.4k

Gif by @tmholland

Part One // Part Two // Part Three // Part Four // Part Five // Part Six // Part Seven // Part Eight

London hadn’t changed. It never did. The rain always seemed to be present and the sun constantly hid behind the grey clouds. It was supposed to be summer, wasn’t it? You’d been back home for nearly two weeks now and not a single day went by where you didn’t speak to Tom. He always managed to make time for a phone call or FaceTime no matter what country he was in. Neither of you had tried to discuss exactly what you were, which was something you were actually glad about; it was too important a conversation to have over a connection that could easily fail at any given moment. No, it was best to wait until you saw each other again.

The sound of thunder echoed in the city and feeling the first drops of rain splash on your nose, you pulled an umbrella from your backpack and opened it just in time for the rain to start pelting. A young boy ahead in the street grabbed onto his mother’s hand for dear life, whining about not wanting to get his “Spidey” coat wet. The red and blue coat brought a small smile to your face and you couldn’t help but think back to the night you’d spent with Tom in Philadelphia.

The second Tom’s lips touched yours, you just knew from that point onwards, you were his. It was like every kiss you’d ever had in the past was wrong and this one was making up for all those mistakes, taunting and showing you what you’d been missing out on. His lips were like a drug and it scared you how much you craved them, already wanting more before this fix was even over.

His tongue slipped into your mouth, gentle but demanding all the same. You gasped quietly. Every inch of your body dissolved into his. He pushed his weight onto you as your hands found their way into his hair, tugging on the thick curls. He gave a groan and you smiled against his lips; it immediately became one of your favourite sounds. His hand slid down your side, grabbing your hip, your leg, your bum - anything he could get a hold of. He pulled you closer, pressing his hips against you.

“Wait, Tom, wait,” you whispered hurriedly, though couldn’t bring yourself to break away from his glorious lips.

He moved back slightly. You could still feel his breath on your skin, but the sudden parting made you feel cold. “What’s wrong?” he asked quietly and you were thankful for the lack of light just so you couldn’t see the hurt on his face that was evident in his voice. “Did I… Should I not have-”

“What? No, no, it’s not that,” you interrupted, absently twirling a curl at the nape of his neck around your fingers. “I just… I just don’t want this to be a one night stand. I don’t want to go home regretting this.”

“I don’t want this to be a one night stand either,” he replied and gave you a chaste kiss on the lips before sitting up. He reached over to the bedside table and turned on the lamp. “I wasn’t planning on taking it that far, as much as I want to,” he sighed and ran a hand over his flushed face as he shot you a wicked smile.

“Oh I know you want to, I could feel how much you want to against my hip,” you snorted and chanced a glance down at his crotch. The strain against his boxers made your mouth water, but you knew it was the best decision to stop things before they went too far.

“I can’t control it,” he laughed and shook his head, grinning now. The redness of his cheeks deepened and you could only imagine how flustered you looked in comparison. “But you’re right, we’ll stop.” His dark eyes scanned the room and landed on the pillows scattered across the floor. “Want me to build the wall again?”

“I’m sure we’ll manage to control ourselves.”

“I know I will, I just don’t know if I can trust you,” he smirked, sending you a wink. As you rolled your eyes, he leaned over to turn the light off again before getting comfortable in bed next to you. After a brief pause, he rolled over and pulled you into his chest, spooning you without a word. Despite the sudden pent up frustration that would only be solved by the man whose arms you were in, you had one of the best nights’ sleep in a long time.

You could hear the squeal of laughter from your little brother before you’d even managed to get to the house, the sound loud enough to make it two houses down the street. It had been weeks since you’d seen them, maybe even a month. Life had just gotten in the way. It was hard, even though you did only live a few miles apart. Letting yourself into the townhouse, you sang a hello and grinned at the little boy who instantly came running through into the hallway, throwing himself at you. “Hey, little man,” you beamed and pressed a kiss into his curly mop of brown hair. You lifted him up a little higher and groaned quietly. “God, you’re getting heavy, Oliver. Soon you’ll be bigger than me!”

“Daddy says that,” he giggled and tightened his arms around your neck, almost cutting off your oxygen supply as he hugged you.

“Olly, don’t smother her.” Your mother, Julia, appeared and wrapped you up in a gentle hug as though to show Olly that not everything needed squeezing like a pimple. “It’s been a while, love.”

“Well you know how work gets sometimes,” you hummed and carried Olly back into the front room, setting him down on the couch that was piled with his toys and books. “Dad working?”

“Yeah, he’s got a big case on at the minute,” Julia said and gave a nod in the direction of the hallway, telling you he was in his office. “I wouldn’t go in yet though, I got an earful for bringing him a cup of tea. He said I was distracting him.”

You smiled and shook your head a little. It was always best to leave your father alone when he was busy on a case to avoid getting your head bitten off. Daniel had been a criminal lawyer since way before you’d been brought home and yet after all this time, he still had trouble separating his work life from his private one. Once he got a case, that’s all he cared about. Of course, he wasn’t completely inhumane and forced himself an hour away to do Oliver’s bedtime routine every night without fail. So you could forgive him for that.

You mother, on the other hand, had always made time for her children. She’d even given up her job when she found out she was pregnant with Olly. He wasn’t expected at all, what with Julia having suffered through a horrendous amount of miscarriages for years previously, so she’d decided to take the time to rest in fear of anything blowing the good luck. The original plan had been for her to start looking for jobs when he turned one, but he was now three and she’d yet to send a single application.

“I’m half expecting him to shout about me closing the front door being a big distraction,” you chuckled and sat on the couch to let Olly drive a toy truck along your thigh.

“Wouldn’t surprise me. So, what’s been keeping you so busy these days?” Julia took a seat on the recliner, relaxing into the cushion. “Nothing to do with a boy, is it?” The twinkle in her eye and smirk on her face made your cheeks burn with embarrassment.

“Mum!” Even though you were a grown woman, there was nothing like the humiliation of a mother wanting to discuss boys with her daughter.

“Olivia popped in the other day,” she explained, chuckling gently. “She was passing and stayed for a bit and just happened to mention you gallivanting around America with a boy. She refused to tell me about him, though. Promised you she wouldn’t say anything, she said.”

“I wasn’t gallivanting.”

“Do I at least get a name?”

“Alright, his name’s Tom,” you murmured, coming up with a plan to murder Olivia without leaving any kind of evidence that would lead back to you. An afternoon with your father’s files would surely help you with that. “We met when I did that shoot for GQ, the one over in California.”

“Wait… Tom… Tom… Why does that sound familiar?” Julia asked and frowned a little. “Wait, is it this Tom?” She got up and went into the kitchen, returning a moment later with the magazine. You’d forgotten it went to print this month.

“Why do you have this?” you asked, avoiding her question.

“We always keep your work.”

The comment brought a smile to your face and you took the magazine, staring at the handsome actor on the cover. His curls were gelled slightly but the wind had caused them to mess up, making him look even cuter. You could remember him moaning about having to wear a leather jacket in the heat, only shutting up after you threatened to photoshop devil horns onto the images. Feeling the questioning gaze of your mother, you looked up at her and then gave a quiet sigh. “Okay, yes it’s him. He was working over in America the same time I was, he was doing some press stuff, so I just extended my stay.”

“He must be a keeper then for you to do that,” Julia smirked and you resisted the urge to roll your eyes.

“He’s nice, Mum,” you told her and tossed the magazine onto the wooden coffee table. “We’ve seen each other a few times, I think I’m seeing him again this week at some point when he’s gotten over the jet lag.”

“Why don’t you invite him over for dinner?”

“Mum, I’ve not even been out to dinner with him yet. Give us a chance.”

“Well what were you doing while you were over the- Actually, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know!”

“We weren’t doing that!” you squeaked and buried your face in Olly’s hair to hide your flaming cheeks. He giggled quietly and took the opportunity to wrap you up in another tight hug. “We didn’t actually spend that much time together. He was working a lot… We went out for lunch one of the days, but it was a bit rushed since he had leave for an interview. The only dinner we’ve actually had is a burrito in the car. Nothing particularly… Romantic.”

“What weren’t you doing?” Olly asked innocently, looking up at you with his big brown eyes.

“We weren’t buying you presents, that’s what,” you replied and tapped his nose. “But I’ll make up for it. How about we go shopping? I’ll buy you whatever you want, within reason.”

His face lit up with a big grin and he jumped up on the couch before pouncing, happily attacking you with a shriek. “Can I get a big car?” he asked, voice high and loud and clearly excited.

“As long as it’s a toy one, yes,” you promised and he hopped off the couch before running out of the room, barely slowing down when Julia shouted after him not to run in the house. You followed him up the stairs to his bedroom and pulled a woolly jumper over his t-shirt, then helped him into a pair of shiny yellow wellies. After zipping up his matching raincoat, you said goodbye to Julia and left the house hand in hand.

It didn’t take too long to get into the city centre, thankful you only had to catch one train instead of rushing around for multiple. Even though it was the middle of the week, it was still busy, but what else would expect from London? Keeping a tight hold of Olly’s hand, you wormed your way through the tourists and workers on their lunch break, eventually making it to Hamleys. As soon as you stepped through the doorway, screaming children and scolding parents could be heard. There were a number of birthday parties being held and as much as you loved children, you couldn’t think of anything worse to experience. Seeing the bored looking parents made you laugh quietly to yourself. With a promise not to run out of sight, Olly let go of your hand and headed straight over to the Lego, gazing up at the creations in amazement. The vibrations of your phone in your back pocket caught your attention and you pulled it out, smiling at the name on the screen.

“You not forgotten all about me yet?” you asked Tom and you couldn’t help but grin when you heard his laugh.

“Not yet, no. Maybe by the end of the week. We’ll see.”

“So to what do I owe the pleasure?” Keeping your eye on Olly, you moved over to sit on one of the empty chairs by the escalator. “I thought you’d be sleeping your jet lag off.”

“I thought so too but I wanted to see you instead,” he replied and your stomach flipped at the softness of his voice. Whether it was down to fatigue or genuine sentiment, you didn’t care. “So are you free?”

“Well I’m actually out with my brother at the minute,” you said. “I promised to buy him a toy but I can tell you now, he’ll definitely work a few more than one into the basket. He knows how to get his own way with me.”

Tom gave another hearty laugh. “That’s what kids are meant to do! But I can… I can, um, come meet you if you want?”

“What, really?” You hadn’t expected him to be up for shopping with your little brother. Well, you hadn’t actually expected him to call today since he only landed home the night before. “I mean, we’re literally just gonna be wanderi- Olly, come back please! Stay where I can see you.” You sighed a little and Tom chuckled quietly on the other end of the phone. “Sorry, he’s a bugger for walking off. But as I was saying, we’re just shopping for him and he tends to take about two hours deciding which socks he wants to wear in the mornings, so picking which toy he wants is gonna be a big one.”

“I don’t mind, I just want to see you.”

“Gosh, does being tired also make you incredibly needy?”

“I’m afraid so, [Y/N].”

“Well I suppose it’s something I’ll just have to deal with,” you smirked and got up from the chair when Olly ran off again. It was easier just to follow him than try and make him stay in one section for more than five minutes. “We’ll probably still be in Hamleys by the time you get here.”

“I won’t be long, I promise.” With a goodbye, he hung up and you slid your phone back into your pocket.

True to his word, Tom managed to find you just as you’d convinced Olly to go onto the next floor of the shop, sneakily steering him away from the ridiculously expensive teddy bears. He wasn’t much of a teddy person, but you didn’t want to risk getting persuaded into spending a month’s rent on a bear that would only collect dust at the end of his bed. Tom made his way over just as you tried to pull down a jigsaw from a shelf that was a little bit too high.

“Need any help?” came his voice from behind and you spun around with a grin. He reached up and grabbed the box. You held back your comment about him having to stand on his toes, too.

“What do you say, Olly?” you coaxed as Tom held out the puzzle box to the small boy.

“Thank you,” Olly whispered and instead of taking the jigsaw, he hugged your leg tightly and hid his face against your thigh.

You gave Tom an apologetic smile, but he just shook his head and crouched down to Olly’s height. “I don’t bite, I promise,” he said gently and placed the box down onto the floor between them. “I’m Tom, I’m your sister’s friend. She’s told me loads about you,” he grinned and Olly turned his head a little to glance at the stranger. “She’s told me how much you love cars. They’re pretty cool, huh?”

“Really cool,” Olly corrected quietly, making Tom’s face brighten. He loosened his grip on your leg and faced Tom properly, trusting him now more than anyone else in the world because he liked cars just as he did. He picked the jigsaw up from the floor and held it close to his chest. “Will you help me with this?”

“We have to pay for it first, Ol,” you chuckled and ruffled his hair before looking up at Tom, who’d stood back up straight. Despite speaking near enough all day every day and talking about everything from work to space conspiracy theories, all you could think to say was a soft, “Hi.”

“Hi,” he laughed and, much to Olly’s disgust, leaned over to give you a peck on the lips.

“Mummy says we don’t kiss friends,” Olly spoke up, looking between the two of you with a slight frown.

“Tom’s a special friend,” you explained and gave his curls another ruffle. “Why don’t you see if you can go find another toy? One more and that’s it.” As Olly hurried over to the Toy Story figurines, you pulled Tom into a tight hug. God, you’d missed him. The feeling of his arms wrapped around your waist was something you loved and couldn’t even begin to picture yourself in anyone else’s.

“Olly’s cute,” Tom smiled when you finally forced yourself to move back. “He’s got your eyes.”

“Okay, now I know you’re just being polite,” you snorted and gave his shoulder a light shove. The confused look that crossed his features made you laugh. “Come on, I know you weren’t expecting him to look like that. In fact, I’m surprised I didn’t catch that look sooner that everyone always has when they meet him, or anyone else in my family.”

“What d’you mean?” he asked, though it was pretty obvious he completely understood what you were talking about.

“He’s not my biological brother,” you hummed and leaned back against a table of toys, crossing your arms loosely over your chest. “The stark contrast of skin colour sort of gives it away. Well, I suppose he could have been my half brother,” you shrugged. “But no. I’m actually adopted.” The second floor of a Hamleys wasn’t exactly the place you’d imagined having this conversation, but you were so comfortable with the subject that it wasn’t an issue.

“Adopted? How come you never mentioned it?” he asked and you caught the look in his eye that you hated, the one that you used to receive all the time when children in school would question your parentage. You’d always been aware of where you came from and it took you until your high school years to understand that not everyone would accept it straight away, and not instantly pity the poor little adopted girl.

“Because of that look you just gave me!” you laughed and held your hand up when he went to respond, “I’m used to it, don’t worry. I know it’s just a sort of reflex thing. I was around Olly’s age when Mum and Dad took me in, so I don’t know anything different. As far as I’m aware, they’re my real parents.”

His face softened and he went to reach for your hand, but Olly came running over, shouting excitedly about the Buzz Lightyear figure he’d found. His pudgy fingers took a hold of yours and using all his strength, he pulled you over to the shelves. After the hard decision of choosing which of the identical toys he wanted, Olly eventually picked “the best one” and threw it into the basket.

“Do you like superheroes, Olly?” Tom asked as you all carried on making your way through the aisles.

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at the question, though managed to hold your laugh back. Of course he’d ask about that. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if he tried to convert Olly into Spider-Man’s number one fan.

“Capt’n ‘merica is cool!” Olly grinned and ran circles around you both, throwing punches in the air as though he was the hero himself.

Tom chuckled and stepped away from your side to join in the fun. He swiped a Captain America shield from the Marvel display and gave it to Olly, then grabbed one of the Thor hammers. “No one can beat the mighty Thor!” he proclaimed, deepening his voice. He slowly aimed the hammer at the shield and dramatically threw himself back a couple feet when the plastic collided. He’d been defeated.

“Gosh, it’s like looking after two children! And it also looks like Captain America is the best of all the Avengers,” you smirked and high fived Olly. “Maybe even better than Spider-Man.”

“What? That’s not true!” You couldn’t tell whether Tom was really offended or not, and that’s what made you laugh harder. “Olly, who’s better: Spider-Man or Captain America?”

“Capt’n ‘merica,” the boy replied without a second thought, hugging the shield close.

“I beg to differ,” he mumbled with a pout.

“I’m sure the opinion of a three year old who’s only seen about ten minutes total of the whole franchise really matters to you,” you teased and reached over to pat his cheek. He replaced his pout with a grin and finally took a hold of your hand, slipping his fingers between yours as you walked over to pay for Olly’s new toys.

“Hey, hey, what are you doing?” you asked as soon as you saw Tom take out his wallet after the toys had been scanned and packed away in a bag.

“Um, paying?”

“No you’re not. Put your wallet away.”

“But he destroyed me in a fight, it’s only fair.”

Unable to argue back, you gave a heavy sigh and put your purse back in your backpack. Tom paid for the toys and you left the shop with two bags and an extremely giddy child. The rain had stopped, but the sky was still painted grey, casting a gloomy shadow over the busy street. With Olly’s hand in yours and the bags in Tom’s, you headed left to follow the majority of the crowd.

“Now what do you say to Tom, Olly?” you asked, giving the singing boy a pointed look.

“Thank you, Tommy!” he grinned and began skipping along the pavement, the anticipation of playing with his new toys vibrating from his small body.

“Just don’t go fighting too many baddies, leave some for the rest of the Avengers,” Tom told him and Olly just nodded his head a little, though was barely listening.

“I need to take him back home,” you said to Tom, stopping on the pavement for a moment to let Olly pet a dog. The dog sniffed his hand and then scurried off. “You want to come back? We won’t be long and then afterwards… I don’t know, we could do something?”

Tom struggled to hide his smile and he nodded. “I know what we could do, but I’ll tell you later.”

All the way back to your parents’ house, you found it near enough impossible to stop wondering about what he had planned. He’d only been back in London since the night before, so that didn’t exactly give him plenty of time to plan anything big. Whatever it was, you knew it would be fun. After the three of you stepped off the train at the station, you took your time walking back to the house, laughing with Olly as he sang the wrong words to his favourite Disney songs. He begged and begged to be swung, so you each took a hold of his hands and lifted him high, swinging him over the puddles until you got to the garden fence. When he realised he was back home, he ran ahead and hurried inside.

“Don’t be so nervous,” you laughed, catching Tom’s brief look of fear that swept over his face. “God, what is it about meeting parents that makes people so scared?”

“I’m not scared, I’m just trying to think of the best escape route… You know, just in case.”

“You’ll be fine.” You reached over and squeezed his hand, then led him into the house. Olly could be heard in the living room, talking a million miles an hour about his day. Julia laughed as she listened to the boy’s story, already asking questions about his new toys, which just excited him even more. You looked at Tom and laughed at how terrified he seemed, then gave him a nudge, pushing him towards the living room.

“[Y/N], you’ve spoile- Oh, hello!” Julia chuckled when she spotted Tom standing awkwardly in the doorway. He was the last person she’d expected.

You gave him another push and followed him into the room, smiling a little sheepishly. “Mum, this is Tom. Tom, this is my mum Julia.”

“It’s really nice to meet you, Julia,” Tom said and pushed his nervousness aside as he smiled at the older woman. Was this how he dealt with new, uncomfortable situations, by putting his acting skills to the test? If so, he was doing brilliantly.

“And you too. Come in, stop standing there, you can sit down,” she said and nodded over at the couch. She’d cleaned up Olly’s toys since you’d been out, but Olly was beginning to make up for it by taking them all out of the toybox again, putting them back in their rightful place on the floor. He’d already forgotten about his new presents.

“Also, I didn’t spoil him,” you told Julia and took a seat next to Tom. “Tom wanted to treat him. Olly won him in a fight so that was the prize, though I’m pretty sure that wasn’t agreed upon beforehand.”

“Well it’s only fair for him to win something cool,” Tom chuckled, leaning back on the cushions. “Even if it wasn’t a Spider-Man costume.”

“I don’t like Spider-Man,” Olly piped up. He finished pulling all his toys from the box and looked around to decide which one he wanted to play with, then after a moment, scurried over to the newest additions.

“You don’t like Spider-Man? But he’s-”

“Are you really going to argue with a toddler?” you questioned, brow raised.

Tom gave a quiet sigh and visibly struggled to agree on how he’d respond, then his shoulders sagged a little in defeat. “No.”

“He changes his likes and dislikes every day, so I wouldn’t get too offended,” Julia laughed and got up from the chair to start packing away Olly’s abandoned toys. “Are you staying for dinner?”

“No, we’re actually gonna head off,” you replied. “Only came to pop in for a minute, I’ll come round for dinner next week. I’ll even bring food over.”

“Oh, well it was nice to see you, Tom, for all of two seconds,” Julia laughed and showed you both out, stopping at the front door to give you a hug and a kiss. “Maybe by next week she won’t be scared I’ll say something embarrassing and might actually bring you over for dinner, and let you stay for more than five minutes,” she said to Tom with a chuckle and, ever the hugger, wrapped Tom up in her arms briefly.

“You know I can hear you, right?” you hummed and they both laughed. “See you soon, Mum.” After another kiss, you waved goodbye and left the house with Tom. When you got to the train station, you followed him onto the right train, still having no idea where you were going now. Did he even know or was he just winging it? “So what are we doing?” you asked impatiently once your train took off.

“I’m surprised you managed to hold off asking until this point,” he laughed and stretched his legs out in front of him, relaxing in the seat. He looked out of the window. “I thought since you let me meet some of your family, why not let you meet mine?”

The colour drained from your face. That definitely wasn’t what you’d expected. Why didn’t he let you prepare, to at least change your outfit so you didn’t smell of the city? Had he forgotten about you wanting to wait? Neither of you had actually discussed what sort of relationship you had, if any, so was now really the best time to meet his family?

“And you told me not to be scared.”

You looked up from your hands to see him grinning cheekily. “I’m not scared.”

“You look like you’re about to pass out! I just thought I’d give you warning instead of just throwing you in at the deep end, and just so you know, she’s the most important woman in my life.”

“What? You can’t do that to me! I need at least a week’s notice!”

“And her opinion matter most to me,” he continued as though you hadn’t uttered a word. “I’ve brought home a few girls in the past who she really didn’t like and I just… I don’t want to be with someone who doesn’t get along with her.”

Of course you could understand that. If a guy you brought home didn’t get on with your mum, that would be a huge issue for you. You prayed you clicked with his mum. “Well I’ll be on my best behaviour.”

“I’ll make sure she’s on hers.”

You continued to quiz Tom for the rest of the journey, but he gave absolutely nothing away. No tips, hints or tricks on how to make the best first impression. Nothing. And it frustrated you to no end. You pictured his mother laughing at the sight of you, telling her son that he was crazy for even thinking about bringing you home to meet her. Then he’d join in, both knowing he was far too good for you. Yeah, that’s exactly what would happen. There was no doubt about it. Your questioning didn’t halt when the train did, and you carried on questioning him as you walked along the streets. You didn’t even notice he’d stopped until you bumped into his back mid-sentence.

“Home sweet home,” he winked and skipped up the few steps to the front door. When he slipped the key into the lock, he paused and turned back to you. “Now don’t be nervous, I’m sure she’ll love you.”

You took a quiet, deep breath as he pushed the door open and you followed him inside the house. Scratching on the wooden floor could be heard and within seconds of Tom shutting the door behind you, a small dog came scurrying into the hallway. She barked excitedly, tail wagging so hard that her whole body shook. The ecstatic dog jumped up against Tom’s leg and he bent down to scratch her ears and give her a cuddle.

“[Y/N], meet Tessa,” he grinned and started rubbing Tessa’s belly on the floor. She continued wiggling around, unsure of whether she wanted to be petted or hugged more.

You stared at the couple. The love between them could almost be physically felt, but you looked between Tom and Tessa in confusion. “Wait, this is who I’m meeting?” you asked and suddenly burst out laughing. He grinned up at you. “This is the most important woman in your life?”

“Well yeah. You didn’t think I meant anyone else, did you?” His grin turned into a sly smirk and you wanted to slap him and kiss him and just laugh. You stuck with the latter.

Tessa scrambled up as though she only just noticed your presence and bounded over to sniff your legs. When she decided you smelled good enough, she barked happily and, chuckling softly, you knelt down to give her a proper greeting. For as long as you could remember, Staffy’s had been one of those breeds that people warned others to stay away from, that they were dangerous and shouldn’t be kept as pets, but Tessa proved all those idiots wrong. She was so friendly and seemed to want to give as much love as she could.

“She’s gorgeous,” you beamed and sat down on the floor. Tessa whined and shuffled closer, pushing her nose under your hand so you’d get back to scratching her. “And needy.”

“She just loves her cuddles,” he said and stood watching you with a warm smile that lit up his entire face. “I do have a couch, you know. I’ve heard it’s comfier than the floor, but whatever floats your boat.”

“Come on, Tessa!” you grinned and pushed yourself up, much to the dog’s disappointment. She ran after you into the other room and jumped up on the couch to curl into your side, completely content with her new found friend.

“I didn’t think I’d actually feel jealous.” Tom relaxed by your feet and tried to get Tessa to go to him, but she was having none of it. “Okay, I might just have to kick you out, you can’t steal my Tessa away from me!”

“Well can you blame her?” you laughed and stretched your legs out over his lap.

“No, I really can’t.”

Being in Tom’s home added a whole new level to your relationship. It was like seeing a side of him that barely anyone else saw, only those close to him. Framed family photos stood along the fireplace and a small stack of scripts and books sat on the coffee table between the couch and television, which he’d switched on to show New Girl (“It’s my guilty pleasure, don’t give me that look.”). Tessa’s bed had been placed in front of the fireplace, though clearly she wasn’t shy about settling on the couch instead. There wasn’t much clutter, it was nice and tidy, but still completely Tom.

“Do you mind if I ask about your parents?”

The curtains had been closed, a Chinese takeaway had been ordered and you’d watched so many episodes of New Girl that you’d told Netflix two times that yes, you were still watching. During each episode, you’d shifted positions so that eventually you lay curled up against his side with his arm wrapped snugly around your shoulders. Tessa moved whenever you did until she settled in the space between your bent legs and bum. It was easy and it was comfortable and it felt so normal. The conversation flowed easily and you didn’t even have to think about holding anything back. When he brought up that question, you looked over at him and shrugged a shoulder, inviting him to continue.

“How come… No, that sounds horrible,” he frowned and shook his head, trying to come up with a better way to phrase his question. You knew exactly what he wanted to ask, only because you’d heard it so many times before.

“How come they adopted me when they could have a baby of their own?”

“It sounds horrible. I don’t mean it like that, you know I don’t.”

“I know, don’t worry. It’s something practically everyone wants to know,” you chuckled, not offended by any means. He relaxed at your reassurance and absently ran the tips of his fingers along your arm, tickling you lightly. “Mum was always told she couldn’t have kids,” you explained, snuggling Tessa a little closer. “They tried for years and years before they even thought of adopting. I think they’d thought of going down the surrogate route, but I don’t think Mum liked the idea of someone else carrying her baby. I guess with adoption you don’t see that, you’re just given the end product,” you chuckled. “But yeah, Olly was a big surprise. She found out she was pregnant on her forty-sixth birthday. Everyone thought she was crazy for going through with it, but he’s her little miracle baby,” you smiled and nudged your elbow against his side when he stopped tickling.

He got back to it. “Do you remember what it was like before your Mum and Dad?” he asked a little hesitantly.

“You don’t have to be shy about asking questions, I’m really okay with being adopted. It’s not like I can do anything about it,” you said. “But yeah, I remember a tiny bit. Not much since I was only three, but I remember my bedroom and some of the other kids. Not their faces, I just remember playing games and running around the house. Not much really and I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.”

“It sounds like you had a good experience there, which is good.” The doorbell rang and after placing a kiss on the top of your head, he went to collect the food. He unpacked it in the kitchen and brought it all out to lay on the coffee table.

You leaned over and grabbed a prawn cracker to munch on, warming up your stomach for the feast while you piled up your plate with the goods. “Tom, do you think maybe we could-”

“Have a drink? Yeah, I’ve got a bottle of wine in the fridge.”

“Well, I was going to ask if we could talk, but I wouldn’t say no to that.”

“Alright, I guess we can talk, too,” he laughed and grabbed the bottle of wine, pouring you a glass before giving himself one. He sat back down and dug into his noodles.

“Okay, first thing’s first,” you started, pushing the beef around your plate. “Did I pass the dog test?”

“Pass it? I think she loves you more than she loves me, [Y/N].” At your smile, he placed his hand on your thigh, rubbing his thumb against you. It was comforting. “I really like you. I just wanted to make sure I’m not making a mistake… And I don’t think I am.”

“I might be a bit biased, but I don’t think you are either,” you grinned and leaned a little closer. His aftershave was delicious. His coffee coloured eyes shifted and stared at your lips and he smirked faintly before meeting you halfway. He kissed you gently, carefully, but it wasn’t what you wanted. Grabbing a fistful of his t-shirt, you pulled him closer. The kiss was hungry and needy and you tried to pour everything into it.

“No, definitely not,” came his whispered reply.

Boy, were you in trouble.

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purplesurveys · 4 years

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816

Gonna do a before and after of one of the first surveys I took when I was FOURTEEN. Fucking wild that I’ve been doing this for nearly a decade. Kinda my way of celebrating the fact that I’ve just been reunited with my old blog, which Tumblr has apparently changed the URL of. Baffled by the move but still stoked, and @a-zebra-is-a-striped-horse is absolutely the coolest person for being able to find it haha. Let’s gooooo 1. Are you registered to vote? No. I still have 3 years to go. < That’s so precious. I’ve been a voter for four years now. I registered the second I turned 18 and I remember being very excited to make it to the presidential elections because only a handful of people from my high school batch were 18 by the time of the elections. 2. When days go by, do you cross them off on the calendar? Only when I’m counting down for something. < This still sounds like something I would do, but I don’t really get to anymore because I have digital calendars on my phone and laptop now. 3. Are you currently counting down to something? If so, what? Summer vacation! 4 days left! < Again, so cute. There’s no countdown that exists because I honestly don’t know when it will be okay enough to go out like normal again, but I am waiting for Covid to go away or at least for a vaccine to be available.

No #4? 5. Ever got injured at work? What happened? Nope. < I sprained my ankle at one of the parking lots in school, while walking to my car. Worst thing was it happened in front of an ongoing rally, and I heard their chants slightly falter when they saw me fall. I tried to play it cool, but my foot clearly felt fucked and someone had to hold my arm as I hopped to my car.

6. What color is your roof? Brown. < Stop pretending like you have a roof, Robyn. The house has always had a rooftop.

7. Do you use MySpace or Facebook more? Neither. < I was still far too young when MySpace peaked so I never did get to participate in its glory days. I definitely use Facebook a lot more, then and now. 8. Last time you sharpened a pencil? When I took a diagnostic test last Monday. < Sometime in 2019 when I was still heavily into coloring and I bought several coloring books and a pack of coloring pencils. I loved coloring and wish I kept it up, but it was just a bit of a hassle for me to sharpen every ten minutes or so. 9. List all the people in your phone under T: Zero, zilch, nada. No phone. < A high school batchmade named Dani, a college colleague named Kate, and a couple of aunts and uncles whose contacts start with Tito and Tita. 10. How old were you when you got into text messaging? I once had a super obsessive text problem when I was 11, I think? < That would be the first time I got hooked with texting, but I got my first phone when I was 7 and was already texting by then. Mostly my parents and grandpa, but still. 11. Do you pay rent to your parents? No. < No. They’ve already told me they won’t pressure me to do so either, but out of gratefulness for taking care of me for 20+ years I have absolutely no problems covering some of the bills when the time comes. 12. What do you think of Obama’s new healthcare bill? I don’t know a lot about it. < Honestly, still same. That’s another country’s politics altogether and we have enough issues in our own nation as it is. I do pay attention to US issues that are more universal like LGBT issues, police brutality against black people, Trump as a person...but not the more in-depth ones like healthcare or student debt. 13. How many icons are on your desktop? 34. < Exactly half of that. 14. Do you spit or swallow? Get outta here!!! < Still can’t relate. 15. Ever wrote something on a bathroom wall? Nope. < Eugh no, public bathrooms are so nasty. I don’t usually touch anything in them other than the faucet. I’ve written on other things though, like the desks in school. 16. What’s your definition of a slut? Uh. < Someone who often has casual sex with a lot of people, is how I understand it. 17. If you use the word “slut”, do you apply it to men who do the same thing as what you listed above? Nah. < I don’t really use the word. 18. Do you dye eggs for Easter? I did once, in a children’s party. < Yeah, just that one time at my second cousins’ place when they were in the mood to paint on eggs and invited me and my siblings. 19. What did you do on the first day of spring? Never experienced spring. < We don’t have spring. 23. Are you currently crushing on anyone? No. < Yes. 24. What color hair did the last person you kissed have? NKSB. < LOOOOOOOOOL I spent like two minutes puzzling over this like who tf is NKSB??? Eventually realized this just meant ‘Never Kissed Since Birth’ oh my god 14 year old Robyn you were SO uncool. Anyway, her hair is black. 25. Do you stand up to say the pledge in school? We don’t have a school pledge, but we do recite our country’s pledge and yes, we stand up every time we say it. < Not anymore in university. Everyone just kinda does their own thing in college and we’re never gathered as one student body for anything, except for graduation. 26. Do you like your eye color? God no. It’s so boring. < I mean yeah it is a bit boring, but we kinda have no choice. Unless you go to West Asia which is nearing Europe as it is, nearly all Asians have brown eyes and black hair. 27. What brand of orange juice did you last drink? Zesto. < That’s the only brand of orange juice I’m okay with drinking, even eight years later. 28. Pens or pencils? Pens. < Still feel the same. 29. Last skirt you wore and why? My school skirt, because I have to go to school. < Omfg again, this is so precious. The last one I wore was my denim skirt, but it’s also been a while since I wore that because one of its buttons has since popped out and I never got around to having it fixed, leaving me with no skirts. 30. Last time you wore heels, what kind were they? A prom I went to. I actually have no idea what kind of heels they are so I’m just gonna say old-women heels. < They were stilettos, you dumbass. I also wore a pair of stilettos the last time I wore heels. They’re my favorite kind, so. 31. Shoes you wear the most? My Keds. < My pair of Onitsuka Tiger sneakers. . 32. Favorite quote at the moment? “YOU DUMB BITCH! I’M NOT HOLDING A MICROPHONE! ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?” - CM Punk < Holy crap, I do not remember this quote at all and had to look it up on YouTube and – no regrets. Watching it made so many memories come rushing back lmao that clip is hilarious; Punk is the greatest. Right now I don’t really have a favorite quote. 33. What was the last magazine article you read about? I forgot. < It’s from the website version of the magazine, but the last article I read covered a viral Facebook post wherein someone had photoshopped the faces of The Big Bang Theory boys onto the traditional graduation photos of my university out of boredom. Article is here for anyone who wants to see how well the pictures turned out lol. 34. What do you think about communism? I don’t know enough about it. < I completely support the progressive youth orgs, especially the ones in my university, that are aligned with communist, socialist, and Marxist ideals. They speak the truth more than any other orgs, so I don’t shy away from defending them or promoting their ideals, especially on social media, even if it puts me in danger. 35. Are you planning on going to college? If so, which one? Of course. I want to study in Ateneo. < CAN WE CANCEL 14 YEAR OLD ROBYN?????? What a disappointment omg. You were always meant to be in UP, you weirdo. 22 year old me takes that appalling statement back lol I can’t even begin to imagine spending my college years in Ateneo. 36. What’s your favorite flower? Ugh I hate flowers. < Peonies and roses. 37. What’s the nearest beach? I think it’s like…600 km away + a 2 hour boat ride. < No it is not. There’s a beach I come back to in Nasugbu and that’s only 100 km away. 38. Ever been to Florida? Nope. < Still nope. 39. How old is your brother’s best friend? He’s probably 9 as my brother’s 9. < I don’t know if he has one and I don’t really care anymore. 40. What type of car did you ride in last? A Kia van. < Sksksksks this was referring to the school bus I used to ride omg :( I was last in our Vitara, when I had to go to the hospital to get some tests done back when I still had a pesky fever. 42. Are you excited for summer 2013? Fuck yeah. < I honestly don’t remember how it ultimately went, but apparently I was excited for it so that answers the question. 43. What class were your parents (ex. class of ‘75)? They’re the same age so batch ‘89. < There we go. 44. Are you in debt right now? For what? No. < Kinda-ish? I promised my sister I’d pay her for helping me out with iMovie (I wanted to make Gab a video for her birthday, but had never done it before), but I haven’t had the chance to do it since I only have big bills at the moment. She’s asking for ₱200 but I only have ₱1000s in my wallet, so I can’t pay her for now. 45. If you’re old enough, do you have a credit card? If you’re not old enough, do you want one when you’re older? I definitely want one. < Yep, still want one. Though I’ll need a crash course on how to use it because my parents never really taught me how cards work. 46. What color is your phone? No phone. < Apple calls it space gray but it’s really just black. 47. Have you ever had someone read a text message they weren’t supposed to see? Yes. < Yes. That person was me, and I accidentally read a text from my dad meant for only my mom when I was 5 because I had stubborn fingers that would click on anything. 48. What’s the minimum age you think someone should have a cell phone at? 10. < Holy cow, that’s a nope for me. I’d say 12 or 13. 49. Would you ever work night crew? Sure. < Yes. I’ve seen my girlfriend’s mom do it and honestly I find it pretty badass, especially because while everyone is stuck in traffic trying to get to work by 9 AM, she’s cruising down the highway on the opposite lane with no problem, to be home by 9 hahaha. 50. How old is the last person you texted? 41. < 22.

#survey #surveys

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sims4cchamster · 5 years

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My pet peeves regarding Simblr CC posts

1. Unclear pictures of the content So there are 5 pictures of a sim, with different hairstyle, glasses, makeup, clothes in each picture in the preview, there is no real description and the file name is MirasDream. What the hell am I even dowloading here? 1.2 Pictures of a new hair mesh, but from only one angle It’s a mesh, isn’t it kinda the point to show it off from different perspectives? I mean the bangs are nice, but what is going on the back? Is it a ponytail, a shave, a friggen mullet?? Nobody knows. 1.3 Suuuuuper photoshoped of otherwise modified pictures of content Making a post presenting your CC is basically a sales pitch, even if you’re not actually selling it for money. So I get the inpulse to “pretty it up”, and in most cases there’s nothing wrong with that, not to mention some of you are friggin magitians with PS. But in some cases, especially makeup CC, where details of texture are important, editing the picture too much actually abscures what you’re trying to “sell”. 2. Unclear descriptions of content 2.1 Is this hamper actually usable with Laundry day stuff, or is it just decorative? Nothing wrong with it being decorative, but I want to know. 2.2 Mods. In Skyrim modding community when a modder makes a mod, which modifies the content that some of the big, famous mods also modify, they usually put in the description whether or not it’s compatible with one the big ones. In sims CC community the big ones would I guess be Basemental Drugs, Srsly’s Cooking overhaul, Wicked Whims etc. The Sims community is in this regard quite disconnected in my opinion. If the item with no clear description is a dress, the worst case scenario is it’s enabled for random and for swimming for example, and you will see a rando in you gym swimming in a formal dress. No problem, even people with no modding knowledge can easily edit that in the Studio. But mods can screw up your game a big time, so detailed descriptions of what they do and what they modify are important. This also goes for updates... Sims 4 is a live game, getting updates all the time. And I notice a lot of people don’t mention what patch their mod was made for, or whether or not it has been updated for the most recent one. And even writing “updated for most recent patch” is gonna mean jack shit in a while, you should write exactly which patch that is. 3. A million swatches I like a nice choice of swatches as much as the next person, but I don’t really need 8 shades of yellow on a shirt. 4. Nonsensical categories Um, it’s glasses, why is it found under hats? And why is there a decorative item in my Sinks category? 5. CAS items not properly colour tagged You spent so much time making this mesh and recoloring it, but you didn’t color tag it? Why? I mean I will do it myself, no biggie, I just don’t get it. 6. Modified EA meshes with no comparison picture This is a big one for me. Believe it or not, not everyone knows every piece of Maxis content by heart (whitnessed by many WCIFs asking about base game items). So a picture of the original next to your creation helps a big time. 7. Mods not being updated I know people have irl stuff going on in their lives and can’t update their stuff the minute a new patch rolls out. And I’m not above waiting weeks even for a mod that I know is gonna be updated. But it makes me sad to find a really good mod that I would love to have in my game, and the creator being absent for months... 8. Tumblr In the era of sims 3, Mod the sims site was one of the best, if not the best, site to get content on. It was nicely organised, with recolors linking back to the mesh if it was also hosted there, the mesh linking to the recolors, items being neatly organised into categories... Now a lot of people hang out here on tumblr. I stay here because most of the amazing creations is (also) presented here, but let’s be honest, it’s crap. Filters for “Search” options ain’t worth a damn, every creator is left to their own devices on how to organise their site (and some are better at it than others) and it’s generally a shit show if you want to find something. That’s why big CC find accounts are so popular, cuz they neaty cathegorise their posts with finds.

Keep in mind these are just my own opinions, they are not directed at anyone in particular. It’s just stuff that bothers me, and it may be just me baing nitpicky

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kcllmongers · 5 years

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We putting in our 2 cents? Hold my beer.

Ahem.

I come in peace. I want to have a genuine conversation with anyone who wants to agree or disagree because of well...growth lmao. I’m not going to rant or shade. There’s two things I want to talk about.

1) Why do y’all care so much about this bitch who plays multiple characters (when you niggas do the same. don’t front)

2) Why not take advantage of this thing called a delete button?

First thing’s first. We can’t talk about niggas being sensitive when y’all sensitive y’allselves. It’s just a different type of sensitive. Not the delete and post unfollow but the “I’ma rant in my mentions all day” sensitive. Hate to break it to you but that’s being sensitive. You are responding passionately to someone’s comment on you, your development or you’re expressing how you feel about something. Shit I'm being sensitive rn because I really could've kept my mouth shut but I have feelings about stuff.

Dipping after causing a mess is being sensitive because well, like many pointed out, you caused it and knew what you were doing so don’t post your unfollow after causing a disturbance. Fuck it and move on, tf? You thought exposing IMs, calling someone ugly, saying you’re slap them all of that WOULDN’T cause a problem? People pick out these FCs and go into this with failing muse already after the first week and it doesn’t help when someone wants to randomly slap you or if you’re called ugly. Personally? I’d laugh and move on but some people are different and you can't be mad at that. Just like we learned and grew from our experiences, we need to let the new comers do that. If you got some dope plots, good development, and having fun then fuck the sensitive bitches you’re talking about and keep it pushing.

Let me skip to number 2. This is all fake, which we can all agree. This community started as an escape for alot of people and still is. We’re grown now. You’d think with bills, rent, jobs and now new relationships we know how to handle things like adults. The only person controlling your good time is YOU. I’ve stopped giving a fuck what people say about my characters, to my characters on anon because this is all fake. I’m not really the person I’m playing and I have a slim understanding of the whole I “I'm working hard to play this so the anons are annoying” shit but none of that will matter come the next rp. And if you get that discouraging anon. DELETE IT. You literally have the power to delete the hate and to make them feel small. Turn off your anons, ignore it. I’ve enjoyed my time in rps way more when I don’t respond to anons even if it’s with a funny comeback, meme, gif or whatever. But you know the minute you answer 1 of them hoes, 5 more come up so why continue to do pay pussy bitches any mind? Why make the admins mad when they tell you to stop posting them? I wish I could delete racism, homophobia, colorists, slut shaming, rapists, murderers, shit I want to delete the president of this here country but the beauty of this community is that you can literally come here and delete the toxicity away. Be somebody different and not you. But you niggas choose not to and say people are ‘ruining’ things. No. No one is forcing you to answer or do anything you don’t want to. We have full control of these keyboards and if you get a hate anon? Fuck em and keep doing you sis. Period. Now, going into number 1. This is long so strap in.

I said the only person controlling your good time is YOU. This is an anonymous platform all around. Its not just that anon button. On Tumblr you can have real blogs with your face but in an rp realm its your fave as your avi correct? In WC its your fave correct? Fake aliases and all sis. I’ve been on the phone with some people a few times and there’s only ONE person who’s ever seen my face in the 8 years I've been doing this and ive seen theirs. Now, many of you are closer and know names, locations and all of that. That’s cool and fine but some people don’t want to do that. But even then, how do you really know who is who with all these FCs and platforms? Because your friend said so? That don’t mean shit. It’s scary and it’s even scarier when maybe you’re surrounded by the same bitch in different FCs but stressing out over this person who does this is just a waste of your time and has to be the biggest downfall in this community since that shitty ass blackout that nobody took seriously. Good times but it wasn't hard to figure out photoshop. Anyways. Everyone has their assumptions and honestly who knows the truth? What are we looking at. Typing patterns? plot similarities? FC usages? I mean come on. This is the most vague evidence ever and I know niggas were full of shit when they were saying who this bitch was turns out it wasn’t even them. I knew niggas were full of shit when at point I heard my character was apparently this bitch and it’s just like...naw lmao. My limit might be TWO and honestly I only get the second if it’s a FC I really wanted and eventually the other one dies off but talking to myself? Smutting with myself? 3 WCs? It makes me chuckle at the thought of people thinking I even had the time. I don’t even want to talk to other people sometimes and you think I’m going back and forth between a computer/phone or whatever to do that? Nobody knows me but if y’all did it would be laughable too. I’m so god damn lazy it’s not even funny but listen if there’s a bitch that does that in this community...let them. What does that have to do with you? They’re ruining your development? Your good time? WRONG.

Worry about you. Your character and your shit is all that should matter so you can take pride in it when you’re done. Not the hours spent figuring out who is who. You could be thinking its the bitch and it’s actually one of your friends and Ive seen it happen. So what it’s the same plots? People develop differently. We still got CBs with anger problems, Dave Easts who move bricks, Rihannas who don’t drop music or act boujee as hell, Saweeties who act ghetto and so on. Y’all FCs act exactly how they usually do ooc and no one bats an eyelash until it’s someone they don’t know doing it. We all based our characters on real like shit they doing. It’s why we choose the characters because of their resources and development. Same with playing multiple characters. I’ve watched y’all sit and pick out MULTIPLE FCs for new rps but nooooooooooooooooooo let’s blow the sirens for this one girl who’s single handedly bringing down he community right? You’re blaming the downfall on ONE person at this point and it’s laughable because who’s at fault for this shit right now? And don’t say sensitive people because we just spoke about this lmao.

And honestly, if this bitch is that irritating. And you feel it in your core that it’s her. Just tell them straight up. I've done it. I get word that it’s most likely them, they do some funny shit and I dead it. Open our plot, cut off connections. Nope. It’s just not me and with the stories I can’t be bothered with he mess. It’s that easy. you literally have the power at your finger tips to better this community by deleting anons, blocking the bitches you can’t trust and just simply telling someone no. But you guys choose to entertain anons or the people in your IMs asking for smut then go to WC and complain. Your next IM shouldn't be sliding into the pussy or on the dick but should be “I'm good luv, enjoy” they’ll get the message. If not, use your words and say you don’t want to. I’ve done it and it was smooth sailing. But you keep replying and actually fuck???????? But still complain??????

In conclusion, I feel like we all play a part in how this community is right now. It’s not just one bitch, it’s not just a group of people. It’s not the sensitivity. It’s everyone. It was me at one point trail blazing through the tags. I owned up to it. But I really just chill and rock with something until it dies. There’s a person that hates this blog, I know they hate this blog because we butted heads and turns out they’re my favorite person I’ve ever got the chance to plot and connect with. And I wanted to tell them I was the blog but it just goes to show shit can run smoothly even when people have different opinions. I don’t agree with alot of shit but ranting, anons and all of that won’t do anything. It’ll just leave a bad taste in the tag.

SO. With that being said, I open the floor to any disagreements. Agreements? Wanna discuss something you didn’t like? Let’s have a conversation rather than yell at eachother. It just makes everyone mad.

#urban rpg #urban rp #━━ 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐃 ; 𝚗𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎. ≫#━━ 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐃 ; 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜. ≫

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midweastindigo · 5 years

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hey everyone happy belated bfsn

I haven’t participated in a long while because I no longer watch the show, but I still love my blarke fam <3 so this is for you

yesterday was a hard day, we had to say goodbye to my beautiful precious sunshine boy Eli. it was the worst thing I’ve ever been through in my adult life . if you could, send some love over to my sister @earthbenderr

in a somewhat happier tone, the photos above are basically a timeline of the past month, starting from the most recent. (Click for full photos!!) So here goes:

1. My all time favorite photo of Eli, the goodest bean™, Clancy the minecat, my bubby goobie boo. We resorted to velcroing the water bowl to the floor because he would use his magnificent thumbs to push it and spill the water all over the floor. And he purred constantly. A good, happy bean who loved scratches and cuddles and blankets.

2. I drew this lock screen on my phone! After I spent the entire month of April doing my first real digital art piece for a contest, I got pretty good at it. So here’s an iron man lock screen!

3-5. These photos were taken maybe five minutes apart.

6. One of the last times I was with Eli, I finally picked up my associates degree! And of course he just had to lay right on top of it after I took this picture. (A certified weirdo).

7. I spent exactly $11 on this yellow nail polish and it was worth every cent.

8. My sister had the brilliant idea of Big Time Bush, and I executed it since I’m better on my phone with that kind of photoshop. James is Bush Ross the happy little tree painter.

9. I went to the Mets opening day! It was freezing and they lost really badly but it was amazing!!! And I got sunburn on only the left side of my face which was funny as hell.

10. Had to jump on the avenge the fallen meme before it died. Sorry miss Keisha!!

@bellarkes-hope @aspeckof-stardust @galaxydanvers idk who else to tag at this point 😬 I’m not really active in the fandom anymore, but I still love you guys and it makes me so happy to see that bfsn is still going strong!

#bfsn #bellarke fam selfie night #personal #endgame spoilers #?? i think #lol

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soonow · 6 years

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new icon everyone :^) i spent exactly 5 minutes in photoshop on it

#txt #mouse drawn. its so BAD i LOVE it.

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fbis-most-unwanted · 7 years

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Things that have happened at the grocery store where I work

a man who would pick up a loaf of bread, inspect it, then throw it onto the ground, adding to the pile of bread on the floor

a man who comes in every Sunday dressed like a pirate

it was warm on Christmas eve, so I wasn’t wearing a jacket. A woman came up to me and said, “merry Christmas, put a coat on!”

a car I see in the parking lot all the time with a bumper sticker that says, “music too loud? 1-800-eat shit” and right below that one, “Ron Paul 2012”

a go cart designed to look like a casket

a cashier went over the intercom and, to the whole store, said, “frito lay-o-lay-o-lay”

at about 7:30 one morning, a manager walked by and said, “it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to” and then walked away. I didn’t see him again for the rest of my shift

also really early, a cashier was talking to me and a couple other people, the phone at his station rang, he dramatically screeched and sprinted across the store to answer it

the same guy later explained in dissertation-level detail why crystal Pepsi is a good business decision

a woman so high she went up to my coworker, pushing her cart with her items, and said, “excuse me, where are my groceries?”

a man in the parking lot who brought his own gardening shovel and would scoop dirt out from near the trees and throw it in the trash can

a teenager wearing a shirt patterned with stripes made of machine guns

a man wearing a shirt with guns on the sleeves and in cheerful rainbow font read “this is my killing shirt”

several people with guns casually tucked into the waistband of their jeans

a pair of used underwear in a shopping cart left in the darkest part of the parking lot

two shopping carts that have made their way into our collection that are not from our store

an old man buying about six birthday cards who said, “excuse me, I need to put these in the file cabinet” then unbuttoned his shirt, put the cards in, buttoned it back up and said, “okay, I’ll see you in a few minutes” and walked back into the store. I did not see him again

I was outside taking in shopping carts at about 7:30 at night. This guy walks out of the store (he has bought nothing) carrying a basketball and a small tree branch. He says, “do you want to see something cool?” I said sure, and he put the branch in his mouth, started spinning the basketball on his finger then put it on top of the branch and walked away. Almost exactly 2 hours later, I saw him walk out of the store again, minus the branch and still having purchased nothing

This was the Saturday before the election. A man came through my line wearing a make america great again hat and a shirt with the presidential seal with Trump’s face photoshopped over it. I asked him what kind of bags he wanted. He said nothing. I assumed he didn’t hear me, so I asked again. He would not speak to me, but firmly pointed at the plastic bags. He needed help outside, so I said, “I’ll follow you to your car.” He made me walk in front of him so I had no idea where I was going. We got outside, and he spoke his first words to me: “Can you run inside and get me two plastic bags?” I did. When I got back to his car, a woman, seeing the bat signal of two Trump bumper stickers, had struck up a conversation. She asked me, “Are you 21?” I told her I wasn’t, and she said, “Oh, I guess you won’t be able to vote then.” She then went on to tell me, “I told my kids that I’m not going to feed them if they don’t vote for Trump.”

A woman was paying for her stuff with 3 gift cards that were so old the computer couldn’t read them. A manager had to come fix it. The woman said, “This happened last time too. I bought these out of a van.”

The store started playing Christmas music the Sunday before Thanksgiving and did not stop until January. I think I heard two versions of every Christmas song created by human beings, including one version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer that, instead of “you’ll go down in history,” said, “play your saxophone for me”.

Right after we got software to read chip credit cards, a cashier was explaining this to a customer by saying, “This way is slower. I don’t know why we switched over. They’ve already hacked it, and pretty soon all our jobs are going to be done by robots anyway. Then the only jobs will be for people to program the robots and it won’t matter because we won’t have jobs and won’t be able to consume, so there won’t be a reason for any of us to be alive anymore.”

a strange man in a suspiciously stained apron pacing around in the back of the parking lot at 10p.m.

There are people who sit in their parked cars staring out of open windows in the parking lot at night for absolutely no reason

a man who said, “do they think this music makes people buy things? Because it doesn’t and it seriously needs to stop.” when asked how he was doing

late one night this guy came through my lane and said, “did you guys see the van?” “what van?” “the van. in the Sprint” when I got off I saw that someone had, indeed, driven a van through the front of the Sprint store at the other side of the parking lot.

at 9:45 one Friday these two girls came in and pointed at a picture in the ad of a bottle of chocolate milk and said, “they’re just like this but 32 ounces and I need 6 of them. They’re on sale for a dollar apiece. I know because my mom was here earlier and bought 10 of them.” That’s 320 ounces of chocolate milk sitting at home and she wants 192 more ounces. I go check, and as I predicted, we don’t even sell them

This old woman was talking to me and said, “I know a Kayla (my name)...She’s a little older than you. She’s with the spiders at the zoo now.”

a woman buying a metric fuckton of gingerbread and pine tree air fresheners on October 26

a man buying tortillas, shredded cheese, and 25 cans of whipped cream

the day I found out the hard way that when lettuce goes bad it turns to liquid

these teenagers who were high out of their minds and walking in slow motion

an old, old man who came in at about 7:30 one morning. the cashier was trying to make conversation and asked him how he was doing. he was not having a 5-star experience and thus began, “I hate shopping this early. I don’t know why I came here, etc. Then when I was leaving my wife asked me to pick up a birthday card. I don’t even know who this card is for, but you know how it is, we can’t say no.” He then turned to me (a female) and the female cashier and says, out loud, “You women are such shrews.”

the enigma that is Serial Killer Jeff

he was a cashier for a few months

he was really tall, had deep-set eyes and bags under them no matter what time of day it was, walked with his head hunched over, had a very quiet monotone voice, always walked with his hands behind his back as if he was at all times ready to be handcuffed, like he knew someone was coming for him

was going to school to be a truck driver

claimed to have once spent 36 hours in the same bar and that he smokes pot with his mom

one time was holding one of those of those grocery dividers and said, “boy, it would hurt to get cracked with one of these.”

we lock one set of doors at 9 (there is a giant sign that says this too). this couple comes in at about 10 to use the machine that counts change and asked, “I know those doors are locked, but can we still get to the change machine?” We said no, but they still went over and tried to open the doors. Jeff leans over and says, cryptically, “You know, this is just like the sign that says ‘Don’t feed the bears’ we all know not to feed the bears, but we have the sign for those high functioning idiots who do it anyway.”

on the 4th of July the pharmacy closed early. when this guy realized it, he yelled “FUCK” at the top of his lungs and then went down the list of every other curse word he knew while running out of the store and throwing open the automatic doors because they were not fast enough for him

I got called down to the customer service counter and the manager handed me a container of mac ‘n cheese and asked me to check the price because there was a man who thought they were on sale for 2/$5 but it rings up as 2/$7. She said, “He’s over there now. You can’t miss him, he’s very tall.” I go back there and discover two things: 1.there is no tall man in sight. 2. the mac ‘n cheese in question is clearly marked as 2/$7. I go back to tell the manager and lo and behold this giant is looming over the counter. I told him the price, and he insisted I was wrong, saying “Just show me the ones that are 2 for $5″ while walking backward away from the counter

we have different bags depending on the time of year. For Halloween, they are orange and say “happy Halloween”. I was told the story of the guy that apparently refuses to have the bags because he thinks Halloween is satanic and doesn’t believe in dressing up in costumes

there is a woman who always insists on bagging her own groceries so she can put one item in each bag and then double or triple bag it. She and her friend come in to the store to walk laps sometimes

on my first day I was getting a tour of the store and we were in the back where one of the maintenance guys said, “Are you new?” I said yes and he looked me dead in the eyes and said, “Run.” I should have listened

on Christmas Eve the manager made me stand outside and tell people we were closed. he then locked the doors, with me still outside

one of the training videos was literally just an infomercial for a boxcutter

It was about to storm one night and I had to go outside to bring carts in. a manager came up to me and said, “If you see lightning, come inside. No one can get hurt if I’m still on the clock.”

one cashier whose personal manga ended up in the backstock cart

this old lady was arguing about the price of a soda and her maybe 8 year old grandson interrupted, “grandma, do you know how long we’ve been here? two hours!” he was right

an old man who approached me 45 minutes into my 8 and a half hour shift and said, “here, for your hard work” and handed me a bag of peanuts

I was outside taking in carts with one of the other baggers. I was going to grab one of the smaller carts that was at the end of the cart corral surrounded by bigger carts. He said, “do you want that one?” I said yeah, and he just picked it up, lifted it over the cart corral, and handed it to me.

one time I was outside getting carts. It smelled like fire, but I couldn’t see smoke anywhere. Periodically, thick black ashes rained down from the sky like some lovecraftian nightmare.

Whenever this one bagger wants the store to get new florescent vests we have to wear when we’re outside, he cuts the straps off of all the ones we have

one bagger (who once made me sort every paper bag in the store to make sure the Christmas ones were on top) stepped away from his register in the middle of a rush to announce to the other baggers, “I just wanted to let you guys know we can wear shorts now. I know they don’t tell anyone, but it’s April 15th, we’re allowed to wear shorts.”

a middle-aged woman who said to the man in front of her in line , “It’s so nice to see a man using the big boy carts!” (as opposed to the smaller carts that are made for when you’re only buying a few things)

a woman who called me over from across the parking lot to hand her a cart that was two feet away from her

#work #stories #work stories #grocery store

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williamjworld · 5 years

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Creating a Year Art Book

After the brief, I get started in writing notes of what projects I’ve done in my first year at university, including some of my own artwork in my spare time.

Digital Magazine Designs

My Own Comic Designs

Learning How to Make a Video

Project Old School

Art Requests

Workshop Designs

Christmas Drawings For My Family

Art Assessments

Bottle-cape Designs

Perspective Drawing

Creating My Own Book Cover

Creating My Own CD Cover

Live-Drawing Sessions

Typography

Logo/Packaging Designs

These are the titles I’ve written from the all the projects I did this year. Next I go to word document to write down the notes in full sentences of what I made in these projects and my own artwork.

My Artwork of My First at University of Cumbria

contents

Contents

Introduction-

Digital Magazine Designs-

My Own Comic Designs-

Art Requests-

Project Old School-

Learning How to Make a Video-

Workshop Designs-

Christmas Drawings For My Family-

Art Assessments-

Bottle-cape Designs-

Perspective Drawing-

Creating My Own Book Cover-

Creation My Own CD Cover-

Live-Drawing sessions-

Typography-

Logo/Package Designs-

Introduction

My name is William Jackson, this is my first year at University. I was born in Blackpool, and raised by a good mother, father and brother growing up and living in pubs and hotels my father has owned since I was born.

Before going to university I spent 3 years of college studying art and design, learning lots of new things in the course, drawing, printing, photoshop and ceramics. Now I am now at university, I’ve be learning new art techniques and skills to become a better artist in the future.

Digital Magazine Designs

In the start of my first year at university, I made a couple of digital magazine designs in one or two projects.

One magazine was about my trip to Keswick with all of the classmates that are in the same course that I am.

The other magazine was about how the pyramids of Egypt were built in ancient Egypt.

I did the magazine designs by creating some drawings of my own (comic characters and artefacts), some images I’ve taking from the internet or taking photos from places I’ve been or seen to. I made these magazines in that kind of mixture, because I enjoy reading books since I was a little boy and I have been into comics since I was 10 or 12 years old.

What I hope to do next year is make some more magazine/comic designs and make better written work in them.

https://issuu.com/grillustdropbox/docs/my_visit_to_keswick

https://issuu.com/grillustdropbox/docs/how_were_pyramids_built_

My Own Comic Designs

During my spare time in college and in university, I’ve been working on comic designs of my own.

The other year at college, I did a small comic strip based on the classic novel “Moby Dick”. How I did the work, was in a mixed media set of pen, pencil, dry-point printing (etching) and photoshop (on the computer) each art material I did them in order with one picture after the other with another mixture of cartridge paper, parcel paper and sugar paper to get a little historic effect in the artwork, they work really well.

The first comic design I’ve made of my own is based on the game trailer Assassin’s Creed Rogue, and the Second comic I’ve made is based from the movie Armageddon. The name of the comics are called “the hunter” it is short story about man walking through a dark background killing his fellow knights and friends in his path, the second comic is called “Armageddon” a story about how an asteroid had crashed into the earth during the time of the dinosaurs.

I did the comic design in drawing, photoshop and indesign, to make it into a successful comic design. I’m already working in third comic design and more after that.

That is something I’m wanting to do in the future, to be a comic artist.

https://issuu.com/grillustdropbox/docs/the_hunter

https://issuu.com/grillustdropbox/docs/comic-_armageddon

Learning How to Make a Video

During my first year at, there were a couple projects that were in video designs. Planning the video is one thing, making the video is another thing.

One video was a stop-animation of a pack of Haribos curling into a ball, then a phoenix emerges in the centre and flies away.

The other was working with one of classmates and partner Lily of a short thriller film of ourselves in old book shop, where Lily walking around the shelves for a book, till I attack and kill her with a book in hand, then later on a friend of mine is walking around town till he finds Lily’s body by the water fountain.

The videos didn’t go exactly the way I wanted them to be in, but I did my best I can in them. The problem was, in the project I had use these computer apps Premiere Pro and After Effects, and learning how to use these apps was really difficult, because I have used them before. What I’m planning to do next year is learn more of how to use these apps to make some videos and how to get some sound effect in, and for some of my own artwork, because I think it might come in handy and I have a friend who could teach me some things in creating videos.

When it comes to computers, create art in them is more difficult than drawing them in paper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gUbMquGArI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KCDkkMrUvA

Workshop Designs

In the first term my group and I go into some workshop to learn new things for illustration and graphic design, text-style, print-making, wood-making, photography and metal-making.

I enjoyed going to them. The workshop were in six sets...

Wood

Metal

Photography

Silkscreen

Embroidery

Here is what I enjoyed most is...

1. Metal- Going to the metal workshop was the first time I’ve ever been in any art course I been to, what I made in there was a metal sculpture of a dragon and took home as a Christmas present for my brother, he loved that a lot. I haven’t done any sculpting since I was thirteen, I use to do small paper sculptures dinosaurs and thunderbirds in my spare time when I was in secondary school.

2. Photography- Going to photography was the first workshop my group and I went to, so using a camera and (if we wanted to) using Lightroom for adjustments was another thing I’m familiar with and of course there is the darkroom I’m familiar with, I did some of these in a few projects when I in college. The darkroom photos I enjoyed the most, because there is some mystery of the object is without any detail or colour. I also learned how to use ultraviolet photography which was fun do to, I would like to do that again next year.

3. Print- Doing some prints is very familiar, when I was in college I did lots of printing making (lino-printing and Dry-point printing/etching). Now at university I did some more of that and learnt how to do etching on metal plates, which I kind of enjoyed doing, because I used other materials to get some shading or tonal effect, when I the plate printed it a good texture and composition.

Next year I’m planning more of these prints for one or two of my own comic designs.

4. Wood- I made wood before, when I was in secondary school, so wood-making is very familiar as well, the fun bit was making a couple of business card-holders for my brother and my dad, then doing some small drawings on them. They were both happy for what I made when I gave it to them on Christmas.

5. Silkscreen- Learning how to use silkscreen printing is different than lino-printing or dry-pointing printing (etching), but it was very interesting, because I could a couple of colours in one print but I think I can put in some more colours in other prints with some more learning.

6. Embroidery- Using the sowing was a little tricky with, but with some practise and patience, from the digital magazine of the pyramids I did a bit of artwork of the pyramids and the equipment and materials of how they were built. I might get better at other things in text-style in time.

Project Old School

In the first term at university, I was in my second project after the first project (the digital magazine designs).

The project was about creating eighteen to twenty-one task from a set of instructions on paper:

OLD SCHOOL

Two weeks of exciting and challenging manual tasks where only perfection is good enough!

Tasks 18-21 should be started immediately and progressed while you are working on the shorter exercises. As time management and organization are just as important as creativity it is crucial you complete all the tasks within the allocated two-week period.

BOOKS

TASK ONE (30 minutes):

Create an A5, portrait format, saddle-stitched book. It should contain 20 pages of white paper.

The cover should be made of a thin, coloured card. The front should feature a decorative motif of four, 5mm diameter holes cut through to reveal the white page below. The holes should run vertically along the right-hand edge: inset by 12-14mm (hole centres) with a spacing between each hole of 40.5mm (centre to centre).

Any page creep should be carefully trimmed.

TASK TWO (60 minutes):

Create an A5, landscape format, stab-stitched book.

It should contain 12 sheets of A5 paper and 2 sheets of thin, A5 card to act as a cover.

The holes for stitching should be placed at 15mm and 10mm from the left-hand edge.

The interior sheets should have a cut, decorative motif achieved as follows:

Sheet one contains a 50mm square hole (centered at 95mm from the right-hand edge and 74 mm from the top edge).

All subsequent sheets (apart from the last) should also feature a square hole that uses the same centre as above but diminishes in increments of 4mm per sheet (i.e. 46mm sheet two, 42mm sheet three

Any page creep should be carefully trimmed.

TASK THREE (45 Minutes):

Create an A5, landscape format, perfect bound book.

The cover should be made from a thin card.

The spine should be at least 5mm wide.

The first 20 pages should be vertically perforated 50mm from the right- hand edge. The final two pages should fold out (by an additional 40mm). Any page creep should be carefully trimmed.

Presentation

TASK FOUR (10 minutes):

Window mount a postcard behind an A4 sheet of mounting card. The mount should be hinged to a backboard.

The hole should be cut with a 45-degree bevel.

TASK FIVE (10 minutes):

Surface mount six postcards (all in the same orientation) on a mid-grey sheet of thin card

TASK SIX (10 minutes):

Using a pen draw the outline of a perfect, 47 mm square in the middle of a sheet of A4 layout paper. This should be presented in pristine condition, the only marks on the paper being the ink outline of the square.

TASK SEVEN (10 minutes):

Take an A4 piece of thin card. Using a compass draw a circle with a 50 mm radius, centered on the sheet.

Using a scalpel or craft knife cut out a perfect circle. Both pieces should be retained and presented.

The curve should be continuous and smooth (no corners)!

TASK EIGHT (20 minutes):

Emboss a circle, square and equilateral triangle onto a sheet of white, A4 cartridge paper. The shapes should be 45mm high, share a baseline and be centered (landscape) on the sheet.

TASK NINE (30 minutes):

Cut the word SHOP out of black paper and mount it on an A3 sheet

of white cartridge paper. The word should be set in uppercase letters 90mm high, be carefully spaced (kerned) and sit on a common baseline. You should use the font Rockwell Extra Bold.

As with all the tasks, no glue or construction marks should be visible.

The Third DimensionTASK TEN (30 minutes):

Using thick paper/thin card, create a perfect, white cube. Each side of the cube should be 90mm long.

TASK ELEVEN (60 minutes):

Using black, thick paper/thin card create a three-dimensional capital letter ‘R’.

You should use Rockwell Extra Bold and the letter should be 150mm high and 40mm deep. It should appear solid when viewed from any direction like this…

TASK TWELVE (10 minutes):

Create a full-size; first angle orthographic projection of your 3D letter R.

All construction lines should be in pencil with the actual projection rendered in black ink.

TASK THIRTEEN (10 minutes):

Create a full-size oblique projection of your 3D letter R.

All construction lines should be in pencil with the actual projection rendered in black ink.

TASK FOURTEEN (10 minutes):

Create a full-size isometric projection of your 3D letter R.

All construction lines should be in pencil with the actual projection rendered in black ink.

Colour and ToneTASK FIFTEEN (90 minutes):

On a stretched sheet of A3 cartridge paper, using red, blue and yellow

paint create a colour wheel that looks like the one to the right (omit the text).

The diameter of the wheel should be 200mm.

TASK SIXTEEN (30 minutes):

On the same sheet of stretched cartridge paper and using black and white paint, create a sixteen step Grey Scale that looks like this >>>

Dimensions: 240mm high X 50mm wide

TASK SEVENTEEN (30 minutes):

Using the same format as above, select one of the secondary colours you mixed earlier and position it in its correct position on the Grey Scale. Now create a tone scale for the colour by adding black to darken it and white to lighten. The scale should be positioned 15mm to the right of the Grey Scale. When complete, each step should be tonally identical to each of theGrey Scale steps that lay along side.

Squint your eyes to accurately judge tone!

A Parting of the Ways…

Tasks for Graphic Design StudentsTASK EIGHTEEN (60 minutes):

Print out the above document – Type Rendering.pdf.

On good quality tracing paper and using a sharp 2H pencil, carefully render all the copy at actual size. No construction marks should be visible on the tracing paper.

TASK NINETEEN (90 minutes):

Following the instructions (Constructed R Instructions) draw this letter to fill an A2 sheet (landscape format).

All construction lines should be included (either pencil or fine line pen). The finished R should be solidly inked in with… … ink!

TASK TWENTY (3 hours):

This is a poster designed by a German poster artist Erich Gruner. The original is painted in gouache (poster paint).

Using paint, create a perfect copy on a sheet of A3 paper. All colours and textures should be identical to the original.

We will be looking for accuracy of colour, tone and edge quality.

TASK TWENTYONE (4 hours):

A series of exercises to develop a feeling for curves…

Print out these three sheets (Exercise 1-3) at actual size (A4) and complete each design. You should use a pen for 1 & 2 and a brush for number 3.

Most of the designs are symmetrical but please note; a few are asymmetrical.

They come from a Victorian book of instruction for school children.

Print out these two sheets (Exercise 4-5) at actual size (A4).

Using brushes and black ink copy them at approximately the same size

on an A3 sheet of cartridge paper.

This is the only exercise where no preliminary drawing or tracing is allowed – all drawing should be done with the brush.

Tasks for Illustration StudentsTASK EIGHTEEN (60 minutes):

This portrait of a Breton boy by Henry Lamb is a pencil drawing on cartridge paper.

You are asked to make an accurate copy of it using the appropriate grades of pencil – as with all these tasks you can base it on a tracing.

The drawing should be approximately 150mm mm high.

TASK NINETEEN A (2 hours):

This is a dip pen and ink illustration by Mervyn Peake.

Make an accurate copy of it using the original media and techniques

The image size should be approximately 140 mm high.

TASK NINETEEN B (3 hours):

TASK TWENTY (3 hours):

This is a wood engraving by Clare Leighton

Produce an accurate copy of it using scraperboard.

The image should be approximately 180 mm tall.

This is a watercolour by Arthur Melville.

Reproduce it at the size of 300mm high on stretched watercolour paper.

TASK TWENTYONE (2 hours):

This illustration by Brad Holland is painted in Acrylics on canvas.

Paint an accurate copy of it 250mm high.

When I started doing the tasks, they all seemed simple enough to do, making small (A5) sketchbooks, creating 3D paper models and making some drawings in the artists’ style.

I didn't finish all the task, but when I presented my work, along with everyone else artwork with same tasks I had in the project to my tutors, they told me I had almost succeed everything, there were some that didn’t go the way they should be, either I didn’t follow the instructions properly or I didn’t read the brief more.

What I need to do in the future, I need to read briefs of the project a bit more carefully and if I need to ask for help on what I need to do, I’ll go to the tutors.

Art Requests

Before I started going to university, some people have been asking for some of my drawings, from friends of mine and local people from places I use to work.

Six people from The strictland Arms, have asked me for my artwork (a local restaurant and bar) during my time in college.

Graham- a former manager who has asked to do a drawing of favourite Car as a goodbye present.

Miles- a former assistant manager who has asked me to do drawings of all the Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park.

Olivia- a Staff member, who asked me to do a drawing of herself before her baby would be born.

Chris- A former pot-washer and chef, who asked me to do drawings of a couple gorgeous woman in 50 pin-ups and the same drawings I did for Miles, all the Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park.

Lee- A chef who has asked to do drawings of his dog and cat and a copy of my first comic design (The Hunter).

Ethan and Abi- Former staff members and best friends since primary school who have asked me to do drawings of themselves in their childhood.

A couple of tutors from Kendal College, I gave you some of my artwork as a thank you for teaching me.

Mike and Amy- Tutors of mine during college, I gave them a copy of my “Moby Dick” comic strip. A large drawing based on a museum fossil of a big shark tooth Megalodon with small drawings and facts about this extinct shark.

Amanda- A supporting tutor of mine when I need help, I gave her a photoshop design based on a song I have decided to use in a art project, (Take That- Rule the World).

At university I did some birthday drawings for my friends who share the same flat with me in the halls residence. Each of them in comic poster designs.

Euan- Of us in character designs at his side in Scotland.

Freddie- Of her and her dragons as Queen.

Micheal (Freddie’s boyfriend)- Of him and her as King and Queen of the dragons.

Jules- Of him a travelling wizard.

I also did some more drawing them as goodbye present

Myself (illustration and graphic design)- As “King of the Beasts”.

Euan (Filming)- As “King of the Scottish”.

Freddie (Fine Art)- As “Queen of the Dragons”.

Jules (Creative Writing)- As “The Travelling wizard of England”.

Lucy (Policing)- As “Captain of the Seven Seas”.

Chloe (Dancing)- As “Actress of Carlisle”.

Flat 250 (the flattop the halls residence we’re staying in)- As “The Gang of Flat 250”.

Everyone was happy of the work I made for them. There will be more art requests soon and I’m happy to make time to do them.

Christmas Drawings For My Family

Near the end of the first term, for the Christmas holidays, I did some drawings for my family as Christmas presents. I did loads of poster-like-comic designs for nearly everyone during the holidays, there were two or three people I didn’t get drawing for them because they have just been invited into the family or didn’t know what draw for them.

My parents (Matt and Sarah)- A business card-holder, for my dad’s card in his office and a drawing of Grandma to remember her by.

My brother (David)- A business card-holder for his cards at work, a drawing of Grandma to remember and a metal sculpture of a Dragon I made from university.

My cousins (Ryan, Sophie, Oliver and Alice)- Small A5 books, each created in different sets for Sophie, Oliver and Alice and a comic poster of my Cousin Ryan.

My Uncle (Steve)- A drawing of my Grandma to remember her by.

My Aunt (Nicky)-A drawing of my Grandma to remember her by.

Family Friends (Mike, Linda, James and Emma)- A Christmas card for Mike and Linda and comic poster design for the twins James and Emma.

My Aunt’s boyfriend (Gary)- A Christmas card for him.

My Grandparents (John and Mary)- A Christmas card for them.

My Grandfather and Step Grandmother (Bill and Lee)- A Christmas card for them and an old drawing of his car.

My uncle’s Girlfriend (Olivia)- A poster drawing of her favourite singer Lady Reshurr.

My Aunt and Uncle (Mark and Nicky)- A Christmas card for them

My Aunt and Uncle (Tishe and Kent)- A Christmas card for them.

My Godfather (Will)- A Christmas card for them.

I am very proud of doing these drawings, next Christmas I’m planning to do some new drawings for my family.

Art Assessments

From the other projects me and everyone in the course are doing, in the first term we have been doing some art assessments from one of the tutors.

The assessment is about working in a small group of four or five, of designing our characters in any decade and country we’ve been given and then creating a video together. The decade and country we have given for the assessment is the 1960s British.

What I enjoyed doing the most was creating my own character design. The did a character of my brother David, when I was at Secondary school I was making comic drawings based on the classic novel “The lost World” where there is a secret land full of Dinosaurs, my brother asked me to him in the story, so with a few others who have asked if they can be in the comic story. The funniest bit is when he asked was “Do not kill me in the story” and I said “Maybe”, so from looking through all the other design characters I’d drawn, I thought for this assessment I could the character design of my brother again. I did another character of a lizard man, but everyone in the group like my brother better.

For something like that, I hope to do some more character designs of my own next year.

Bottle-Cape Designs

Sometime around February, I made some more spare-time making sone new designs of my own.

Back at home me, my brother and my parents have been doing some bottle-cape collecting, placing them in a glass jar, since my Father owns the Brewery in Lancaster. When I start my first year at university and later on my job at the bar and hotel (Gosling Bridge) in Carlisle I do my own bottle-cape collecting. So around February I use the bottle-capes to create new designs for my Dad and the brewery.

During my time in secondary school I did a drawing of the brewery when it was built in Lancaster for my Father and other staff members, they then use it to display it on the pump-clips, posters, on bottles and on the brewery vans... this is something that has made me really happy to see.

What I did for the bottle-capes is stuck them in a large plank of wood and then paint over what I want to paint. So far I have made three bottle-cape designs a rose flower of Lancaster, the title or “Lancaster the Brewery”, and third design is about putting quotes from the bottle-capes I collected from the brewery, so far only my parents and my brother and my friends know I have made these designs, and soon the staff members of the brewery will be surprised of what I made.

Perspective Drawing

Perspective Drawings

Around October (Halloween), I did a project of perspective drawing.

There are other kinds of perspectives from whatever the eye is seeing.

Bird’s eye view- a bird seeing what’s below on the ground when flying.

Human’s eye view- when someone is seeing a view from a distance.

Worm’s eye view- a worm seeing what’s above in the sky when crawling through the floor.

The first thing I did was do some practise drawing of perspective

set of cubes or cuboids, one or two chessboards, and one or two

objects.

Next I did some more perspective drawing with a couple of

backgrounds. A chess set in a human/worm’s eye view at once, a steam

train of the famous Flying Scotsman, then the last perspective

drawings I did were of a deer park with sheep at a distance with my

family’s dog in close-up and a tunnel with one of my flatmates

(Freddie) at the other side to the entrance.

When I presented my work to my tutors, they were impressed that I

understood the meaning of perspective, the drawings weren’t exactly

they asked for the drawings they asked was of a dark alley street

with a cat in the centre.

This is another reason why I need to read the brief of the projects

a bit more. Look on the bright side, at least I tried.

Creating My Own Book Cover

creating My Own Book Cover

Before I went home for the Christmas holidays, I was given an other

project about creating a book cover in the artist’s style. But First

I need to do some research on the artist I was given in the project.

The artist I researched was Rockwell Kent, an illustrator who has

done his drawings in a mixture of drawing pen, painting and

printing. Seeing some of his artwork is a little like going back in

time, due to some of the book covers and pictures he has made like

Moby

Moby Dick

Mary Poppins

Bridget Jones’s Diary

Heart of Darkness

The Damned United

Pride and Prejudice

1984

Gorky Park

Tom’s Midnight Garden

The Right Stuff

Murder on the Orient Express

Midnight’s Children

The Tin Drum

Cold Comfort Farm

Under Milk Wood

Macbeth

Fahrenheit 451

The Motorcycle Diaries

Germinal

Pies and Prejudice

These were the chooses I needed to make, to create my own book cover. At first I wanted to do a book cover of Moby Dick, but since I’ve designed a comic strip of it I decide to do something else. I chose to do the Murder on the Orient Express. I chose this because I’m trying to do something different, plus my grandfather enjoy trains before I was born then I enjoy trains as well.

I made lots of drawings and prints of trains, the weapons from the murder (knife and gun). They were okay but weren’t exactly the style from the artist I was given in the project, eventually I did the artist’s style, made a couple of more drawing and decided which is the best one.

What I think could improve to develop if I were to do is add a tiny touch of red (blood) to make it a bit more of a murder.

Creating My Own Record Cover

After the Christmas holidays I started on the next project straight away at university.

My group and I were asked to create a CD/record cover based on the bands and the songs we were given from our tutors. The band and song I was given were...

The Joy Formidable- This Ladder is Ours!

Thomas Dolby- Cloudburst at Shingle Street

The Tornados- The Telstar

Doing some research and listening/watching the songs, I chose to do the Formidable Joy- This Ladder is ours! Looking at the video and reading the lyrics of the song, I then think of something I did when I was in college last year. I was working on one or two songs I (Take That- Rule the World or Tinie Tempah- Wirtten in the stars), using a couple of lines from the lyrics and designing a portrait of the song. This was something I did for a record cover of the Formidable Joy, doing some drawings, lino-prints and Photoshop designs I have the work printed from the computer and carefully cut and stick the design together, to the size and shape the record cover should be in. Presenting the design to my tutors, they tell me they record capture the imagination and energy from the pictures and quotes from the song.

If I was asked to create another record, for another song, I would chose the song I like to do.

Live-Drawing Sessions

After the Christmas holidays were done, in the second term, me and any of my group that were interested go to live-drawing sessions. When I was in college there were some live-drawing sessions going a few times, but I never went to any of them, it was for the older students to go to them, this year is the first time I went to any of them. Every week we were given a spot with a stand, board and A1 paper and the models we use for our artwork taking turns every week and every week we use different art materials to try out new things this year (trying to get us out of our comfort zone). The models was a man named Nick and a woman named Helen.

The materials we used for our drawings were...

Pen

Pencil

Charcoal crayon (Black, white and red)

Writing Ink (Using some water for tonal/shading)

Coloured Paint (oil paint, water colour paint or acrylic paint)

Most of the drawings I did of the models I’m quite proud, there are some drawings I think I could a lot better, what I need to do to make better drawing next year for live-drawings is practise by looking at the drawing with one eye and looking at the subject or object with the other eye.

Typography Projects

What was a little more challenging and a little frustrating was the typography projects.One project was about creating an article I was given and write in a few sets

Square format- 140mm x 140mm

Portrait format- 245mm x 100mm

Landscape format- 115mm x 207mm

The article I was given was...

The Sun: Living with Our Star

Discover the story of humanity’s ever-changing relationship with our nearest star - the Sun - through hands-on expe- riences, unique objects, and stunning imagery in our latest exhibition. Set at the centre of our solar system, the Sun’s brilliant light shapes our sense of time, our health and our environment. People have tried to harness its power and uncover its secrets since the dawn of civilisation. From 3,000-year-old artefacts to upcoming space missions and even a nuclear fusion reactor, our new exhibition takes you on a visual, action-packed journey that brings the science of the Sun to life. Bask in sunlight on an indoor beach, try on historic sunglasses in a digital mirror, and watch the Sun rise around the world on a huge illuminated display as you explore the fascinating story of humankind’s relationship with our closest star. During the exhibition there will also be a screening of the absorbing documentary ‘Let There Be Light’. The screening is followed by a discussion—and most likely no shortage of lively debate—about the viability of nuclear fusion and solar energy as the answers to reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.

6 October 2018 – 8 May 2019

Tickets £16, under 16s free, other concessions available Special Exhibition Gallery, Level 1, Science Museum, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2DD

www.sciencemuseum.org.uk

Doing this was a little frustrating because I needed to get them...

one typeface in as many sizes as you see necessaryt

wo typefaces, each in two sizes

one typeface and its related bold, in one size only.

And get the titles and sentences a good composition sets was difficult to do, because from all of that this is first time I created a type of article. But when I got it all printed out and set in A1 grey card paper, the tutors have told me I made some good and strong composition in them and getting all the word in the same size as I’ve made them in.

In the other typography project, was about creating a poster for a on-coming festival about creative typography, so me and my group needed to create our own posters and the tutor can decide which is the best to have. I wish they took my design despite it too have a strong composition and good information about the festival but somehow I got the information a bit big than the last typography project it is a bit disappointing, but the bright side is that I get to enjoy doing some artwork experiments on drawing, colouring, painting and cutting typography fonts A to Z.

If I were to do it again was, only get the information a bit smaller, but create some more colourful and creative fonts.

Logo/Packaging Designs

Then the last project was about creating a logo design of my own, inspired by other logos that have been made around the world like Pepsi, Shell, Snickers, etc.... In this project, I was to work with someone (a partner) to suggest work kind of logo design we could do, the partner I was with is a young girl named Katelyn (Kate for short).

The Logos we needed to inspired by are...

New antique furniture

A portable anvil

Mirrors that make you look thin

Nylon stockings for men

Cardboard houses

An irritable Sat-nav

Yorkshire Swiss roll

A straw based breakfast cereal

A clockwork car

Fashionable shoes for dogs

Fizzy yoghurt

Thermal bras

Cuboid footballs

Heated toilet seats

A cheese fountain (for parties)

A cactus with rubber spines

Concrete mattresses

Radioactive hair dye

Hats for horses

Self-cleaning dustbins

Wool burning stoves

Pop-up self-assembly furniture

Emulsion paint for Goths

Celebrity pasta shapes

I did a lot of drawings and photoshop designs of logo names my partner written, I can’t remember what exactly each were, but those I like, I used creating the logo ideas, along with a few drawn pictures at the side. The best design and final piece I did was an antique logo design, with my dad owning a brewery in Lancaster, there is an antique shop (warehouse) next door to it, whenever I go to visit the brewery I would sometimes go the antique shop to see what they have in there (one time I went and bought an old comic for me to read with).

My partner worked on a presentation, of a logo she has worked on, when we showed to designs to the tutors, but when I tried to email the presentation to them it somehow couldn’t send, but my partner how managed to make to presentation later on.

If we were to do this project again, we would discuss some more ideas, logo designs and work on a presentation together.

Thank you for Reading...

Thank You For Reading...

Being at university has been different and challenging than it is at home and college. I came to university not only to learn more art and design, but to learn how to live with by myself away from my parents and family. This has been a good year. Doing some new artwork and skills has not only been challenging (driving me out of my comfort zone), but has made me learn new things in the course.

Maybe these new skills will let me do them again, to help me become a better artist in the next two years at university. Who knows?... Maybe you’ll do something like I have done too in the future.

After I write the notes and wrote it down on Word Document I use one of my sketchbooks that I haven’t used yet and get the writing printed and cut-out where they need to be in the book, next I took some images to go with the idea of what I made and designs at university.

But I had to get them in photoshop and get them printed, when that was done I cut out the images and stick them from where they need to be in and the last thing I do is write tiny notes around the images of my artwork so when someone reads what I did they’ll which is which with the notes at their side.

When I come for university next year (and hopefully a successful year) I would like to create another book of what I made both art projects and my own artwork to make it more exciting for people to see.

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beedalee · 7 years

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Bee’s Modest Art Arsenal

I made a comprehensive list of all the stuff I typically use to make art as of right now. It’s not meant to be an end-all-be-all for art supplies by any means, just... stuff I like! And it’s largely affordable whenever possible, yay!!! Some of my favorite art products I find completely on accident or in unlikely places so never be afraid to give it a shot if it calls to you! My list is under the cut, and ofc, all photos are not mine and used purely for educational purposes.

Paper & Sketchbooks

Printer paper (the cheapest kind anyway) is absolutely fine if it’s what’s accessible and convenient, especially if you’re just doing warmups and concepts! I like to keep paper and recycle it in some way too- and some printer/junkmail paper is REALLY nice!! Typically though I prefer bound sketchbooks to keep track of my growth better. I seek specific textures and weights that are better suited to more aggressive mediums, like watercolor and marker. Printer paper is flimsy and really only for dry media!

So for more experimental mixed medium drawing, like markers, paint, watercolor, heavy inks, scrap-booking and collage stuff, I own these:

Shown above are: Strathmore Mixed Media 400 series, Canson XL watercolor paper, Canson XL mixed media paper. Each pad was between 5-9 dollars depending on the size you want, and you can find these at many stores; Joann’s, Micheal’s, Walmart, Staples, etc.

As for sketchbooks- I don’t swear by a brand but here’s what I look for: I prefer wire bound or coptic binding, because both allow the book to lay flat (unlike classic “book” case binding) Also, texture is veeeery important to me! I like very smooth bright white paper that isn’t too thin for sketching and inking. It’s a small personal thing, but because I’m left handed, the more textured paper is the more I smudge it to hell and back. (;￣ー￣川

Pencils & Erasers

For general sketching, I prefer mechanical pencils (but I always keep some wooden pencils around too just in case I need something softer) I’ll use just about any brand or size lead, but my personal favorite is 0.5mm lead, and comfort grips are essential for your artist’s finger bump!!! The two pencils I use the most are a Bic Velocity and Pentel whose label has been smudged off... but again, ANY brand is seriously fine. Some people like standard .7 or even .9 could be good for you if you’re prone to breaking lead!

(Disclaimer: I have virtually no experience with those fancy different lead size HB wood pencils because it smudges so i don’t want it.... (ʘ‿ʘ);;; )

Red and blue sketching pencils are useful because when you scan it, you have the option of editing out JUST the blue or red channel in your art program, leaving only the refined sketch or inks. If you don’t have easy access to an art store that carries these kinds (or just love rainbows like me) use erasable colored pencils for more or less the same effect.

95% of the time, I don’t trust erasers on the tip of any pencil. Ever. My family has a bad habit of hoarding pencils for years or buying cheap ones with cute prints, so the erasers ALWAYS suck. Instead, I use an entirely separate selection of erasers.

Shown above are Faber-Castell eraser 3pack, Prismacolor kneaded rubber, and Pentel’s hi-polymer eraser. They’re relatively easy to find, though Pentel’s may be the easiest in a pinch, and you get a bunch for a low price! Those pointy pencil topper erasers work as well if you want something smaller tho!

Kneaded rubber is really useful if not making a eraser crumb mess is very important to you or your work, effective and very gentle. (and gross looking after a while... like a grey poo... but it’s fun to play with?) I always have a big fat eraser like these around for erasing large areas- I prefer them a LOT over pink erasers, which occasionally do the dreaded smudge or dry out. and then smudge. HHNGGH

Pictured above are Papermate TUFF STUFF eraser stick (and a refill), Pentel’s Clic Eraser, and Clic Eraser refills. The refills are almost always exactly next to the product itself.

So you have a big eraser! But for detail work and hard to reach spaces, that fat nub might make you want to pull your hair out as you accidentally erase the face you spent 15 minutes perfecting. These are probably one of my favorite tools, and I’ve used them since I was 14! Pentel’s eraser is great for moderate to fine detailing, and then I recently found Papermate’s at a Dick Blick. It may be the most elusive (I mean.. we have the internet now so...) but it’s INCREDIBLE for detail erasing. I’m super finicky about precision, so these are heavenly for me.

Pens & Markers

For inking and lining, I turn to these! They’re pretty accessible in many stores now-a-days (Sakura used to be so hard to find). Shown here are Sakura Micron Pigma 8 pack and Staedtler Pigment Liner 4pack. Staedler was my first baby-bee brand and the quality is still good, even if I prefer Sakura now because of the wide variety of nib sizes. You can also find Sakura in singles in art stores like DickBlick or Jerry’s Artarama probably! Liners are waterproof and archival, and take a lot of punishment under wet media or on top (though I’d always encourage letting it dry first.)

Shown above are Sakura Micron Gelly Roll Metallic and Classic White Gel Pens! Gel pens were a super cool fad back in the 2000s for me but now they actually serve a REALLY handy purpose. You could use them to highlight or detail just about anything, but I especially find the metalic and white gelpens very useful. The metals are great to add a bit of bling to a drawing, shine your rendered metal, or just add sparkles. ✧☆✧ (و｡･｀ω´･｡)و The white is GREAT for tan, gray, or black paper- or to highlight areas in hair or eyes- AND to white out small oopsies without having to use actual white out. I highly recommend getting a 3 pack of these guys!

I also recommend ballpoint pens. Yes, those random ones all over your house, given out for free at banks or offices- any old ballpoint pen (that isn’t on the verge of dying.) The difference between sketching in pencil, inking art, and using pen is that ballpoint pen is all the permanence without the refinement of inking. I looove using ballpoint to sketch messy stuff, to mess up and start over. plus, it also comes in a billion colors, and you don’t feel bad writing with them normally or losing them when you travel. It isn’t waterproof so it will bleed if you put marker or watercolor on it, but... sometimes i do it anyway! 8)

I currently use Spectrum Noir and Prismacolor Alcohol markers. SN are in packs of 6 for 14.99, but if you’re like me, a joann’s 50% off coupon can net these sets for 7.50 apiece. I got the prismacolor 12 pack for my birthday, and I like to collect a few certain colors on occasion, but the money saved on the SN makes that splurge possible. I think the quality is really great for the price, even if I am still pretty novice at marker coloring. I write a bit more about these here!

Digital Art Tools

10x6.25 in Monoprice Tablet (and some AAA batteries) (You can probably find bigger or more updated models for the same price by now, as well.)

Love this tablet! REALLY affordable (70-80) and such a trooper- I’ve battered this thing with water and heat and cold and it’s still as resilient as ever. I think I’ve changed the single AAA battery in my pen like... 3 times max in the 4-5 years I’ve owned it. I’ve disabled the “close window” hotkey (bc I’m LEFT HANDED AND HIT IT ALL THE TIME) but otherwise it’s a really great tablet, does exactly what it should. Works with windows 7 well, but I can’t give a review of it on any other OS. More about it here.

I use Easy Paint Tool Sai and Photoshop 7 for text/editing (though I’d like to upgrade to CS2 in the future), but free/purchased art programs are vast and endless, so it’s really up to your personal taste... and this post is already long enough!

So, that’s about it for now! Those are all the essentials I like at the moment- everything else is experimental, which is always encouraged!!! Expand your horizons!! Have fun!! Go draw a thing!

#art help

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cheznieba2a2 · 5 years

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Spending far too long making maquettes for characters I could’ve just drawn

It’s true, I could have just drawn out my cast and been done with it in 2 days max, but, that’s boring. I’ve done enough character drawing in this project already and my hands were getting withdrawal symptoms from clay. These dudes took me way longer than I anticipated, used up far more clay than I prepared for and on one occasion, made me cry, yet I had so much pure, child-like joy making them that I really don’t care.

Here we go lads

Base Structure

cuttin wood, twistin wire, glueing wire in wood, making a skeleton

I cut up some little almost squares of wood (don’t judge me, I’m terrible with a hand saw and I really couldn’t see a big enough pay out from whipping out an electric one) and sanded the edges down so my hands wouldn’t die. I then proceeded to do one of my least favourite model making activities and twisted together a bunch of wire so I could start making some little skeletons.

I didn’t have any sketches for the crew members that weren’t Steve, only a vague idea of what style I was going for so this was terribly planned. HOWEVER, I just went for the classic one little one and one big one which spoiler worked out super well.

I drilled holes in my poorly cut bases and used some Araldite to secure those bad boys in there. I didn’t attach the arms to the rest of my skeleton yet because I had no idea where I wanted them yet and thought that waiting until the tinfoil body shape was sorted would help me out a wee bit.

I was correct! putting the tinfoil on first made figuring out the arms way easier, however, they aren’t exactly securely in there so let’s pray to the maquette gods that that won’t be an issue later on.

Super Sculpey time

Because of my loose-ish arms and incredible ability to mess something up if it’s not rock solid, I decided to shove down a relatively thin layer of clay over my tinfoil and wire friends and bake it so I could just build over solid foundations. They currently look absolutely horrifying but I’m really happy with their proportions both in themselves and to each other which I didn’t expect to happen. I’m also digging that I decided to go with interesting stances and not just a stood up and rigid kinda thing.

If whoever is marking this somehow remembers my blog posts about making the maquette for Greg during that stop mo project, you will recognise my skills for using various glassware from my poor Mother’s cupboard to help to support my chaps and hopefully save them from imminent death in the oven.

I then realised I completely forgot about all the extra bits on Steve and set to work fixing that with a power drill up the bum, through the head, even more twisted wire (still hate it) and some extra tin foil padding. Also, once I added the tail thing, I realised that his bottom half was no where near as fat as I wanted it to be, and it would have been way to much mass to do in just clay so I went ham with that foil.

This is when I cried.

I just dropped him while working on the face and it was a moment. I refused to pick him up to assess the damage for 5 solid minutes, so all I was going on was an awful smack sound, a pile of crumbled clay and a concerned look from my Dad who happened to be in the room at the time. Thankfully, I was being dramatic and the damage wasn’t even too bad, I had him right as rain in 15 minutes and a little extra oven time.

Here he is! all fixed and honestly better than he was pre death drop.

I’m aware that the lush yellow blanket draped over a piano stool is a wee dramatic from a WIP shot, but this is when I read the email about the stop motion work experience and I needed a good shot of these fellas to send in.

Anyway,

I’m actually so proud of this trio. Yeah non of them can stand up on their own and they are currently secretly propped up in some way, BUT, for something I did literally no planning apart from random brain waves here and there, they’re turning out wicked.

Painting

I wasn’t going to paint them, because they’re just maquettes and I had told myself that I was already spending way too much time on these chaps but I just hated the full skin tone look. It just gave me the absolute chills. Also, I’m currently thinking that I want to use actual fluffy fabric where I want these just to be fluffy and it would just look so wrong if I had a different coloured fabric over a block tone body soooooo here we are.

I kept them all on the same colour scheme and I’m actually really happy with how it turned out. I stuck some glitter onto Steves weird ball thing just because I found it in my draw like 2 days and I wanted an excuse to use it and I fully love the result. I did have concerns about their mouths looking rate weird, but with a lick of paint i’m living for it.

Getting around trying to texture clothes with clay

I did indeed end up going with my fabric idea.

I popped to my nearest wilko, found a cheap pillow that I kinda liked the texture off (it had two fabrics so I had to go for it, I love options), and cut it up like a mad man. I used good ol’ hot glue to attach it and during the process got so much white fluff everywhere that I don’t think my parents want me coming home from Norwich anymore.

Steve looks fab, but, I’m an idiot and did the fluffy fabric before some the smoother, less gets-in-your-way stuff, so I’m going to have some real fun trying to hot glue that down around this fur.

For example, this is the order I should’ve done the fabric in, but hey, I learnt and I’m now a better person.

I decided to leave sleeves and trouser legs off my little guy because not only did I like the diversity, but he was too little anyway and he would’ve become just a bundle of dead pillow.

I love how they look now, and The fur is just beautiful.

Giving them a base for no particular reason

Since they can’t really stand on their own and looks good together anyway, I decided to make just one big base that they could stand upon.

I made the smart person decision to paint around their crystal white feet with the soul sucking black before I glued them down so that I could really get those angles going for a pretty finish.

I glued them down with hot glue which worked way better than I thought it would. Originally I was just using the hot glue to temporarily hold those suckers down while I drilled and screwed nails into the underside but after realising how difficult that would be with their very very delicate limbs, I risked leaving it with just hot glue and it’s proper secure.

Shockingly, the two puppets that had both legs on the ground were the worst balance wise, and I could see their ankles cracking and bodies tilting the longer I left them to stand on their own. My mum had the fab idea of shoving some dowel under them, so I painted it black and used far too much hot glue to make sure my lads didn’t die. It actually worked really well and is way more subtle than I thought it would be.

The finished gang

vimeo

Cast sheet

It’s basically the non-animated version of my turnaround. I took a bunch of screen shots, shoved them into the photoshop document lovingly provided by Jon, and made it all fit while putting my tetris skills to good use.

Conclusion

It’s been 7 days of solid hard work, including through Christmas eve and day (can I get some points for dedication here), and they’re finally finished! Yes, I did exactly what I said I shouldn’t do and got so caught up in a minor aspect of the bigger project that I spent too much time on it, but I absolutely loved doing this. Maquette making is one of my favourite parts of this course and I do not regret a second of this. Sure they have their flaws, like two of them can’t stand without a pole on their bum and most fingers have fallen off and been glued back on, but I love them. This has to be one of my proudest achievements since Greg, so I’m so ready to take this project further.

Also, i’m rate proud of my cast sheet for the character bible.

#characterbestiary

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graphicallysam · 7 years

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Para: A Saturday with the Twins

Who: Sam and Mercedes

When: Saturday, 13 Nov 2010

Where: Evans' Home

What: Samcedes babysit the twins

Mercedes had gotten the text earlier in the day that Sam was in need of backup with his twin siblings. Two against one were not fair odds when it came to tiny people that could team up on you, so she was more than happy to help. She had met Stevie & Stacy at the football games when his family came to watch Sam play. She thought they were adorable, and Stevie was practically a carbon copy of Sam. It also didn’t hurt that she liked kids.

Her mom let her drive to Sam’s house since she had her permit. She could get her license in another few weeks after her birthday, so every last bit of practice would do her good. Once there, she grabbed her purple backpack out of the trunk and headed up to the door, ringing the doorbell. She had packed her brother’s old Sega Genesis system that had a bunch of fun games the twins could try like Sonic and The Lion King.

Normally, Sam didn’t mind babysitting his siblings, but at five-years-old, they were like The Rugrats on crack. They pretended to be all innocent and sweet with their parents and around Quinn and stuff, but when it was just Sam by himself, they were The Kindergartners from Recess. Quinn was busy with a church thing or maybe a thing with her mom, Sam wasn’t entirely sure. So he sent out an SOS to Mercedes, hoping that she could save him, and when she agreed, he thanked God for taking mercy on him.

Since he’d started at McKinley, five months before, he’d made a lot of good friends. Finn had kind of invited him to be a part of his crew, which brought the unexpected but welcomed presence of Mercedes all of the time. Sam really liked Mercedes. She was one of his best friends at school, and they hung out all of the time when he wasn’t hanging with the guys or spending time with his girlfriend, Quinn. It was nice to have a friend that was into comics and video games and movies as much as he was. Not that Finn and Puck weren’t good for that kind of stuff, but it wasn’t quite the same. Mercedes just got it in a way no one else did. Quinn just wasn’t into the same things as him. She loved to read and spent most of her time with Rachel. They liked art museums and things he had no clue about. Sam liked art, but not that kind, and he hated reading because it didn’t come easily for him. Mercedes was just different than most of the people he’d met in Ohio. She didn’t think he was weird for speaking Na’vi, and she laughed at him impressions. Plus, she was really pretty, not that that mattered. He did have a girlfriend after all. It was just kind of a bonus.

The doorbell rang, breaking him from his thoughts and offering him salvation. He practically tripped over Stevie as they both rushed for the door. Luckily, height and gravity were on his side. So he got to the knob first and pulled it open as he shoved his brother out of the way. “Hey, Mercedes,” he said with an exhausted grin. “Ignore the mess. The twins promised they’d clean up like thirty minutes ago.”

“We’re still playing,” Stevie explained. He glanced at Mercedes, smiling shyly. “Hi, ‘Cedes!” He waved and then took off running.

“Hey, stop running in the house,” Sam called to him and sighed when his brother was out of sight. “Sorry...come in.” He stepped aside and let her in. Sam’s house was generally neat, but it always looked lived in. Both of his parents grew up on ranches in Tennessee and believe a house should look homely. But they were strict about chores, and the twins had toys scattered everywhere that would need to be cleaned up before they got home.

“Hey Sam,” she smiled brightly as he opened the door, his always adorable face saying more than he needed too in regards to the mayhem his siblings were putting him through today. Sam had become one of her closest guy friends in lightning speed it seemed. He was so much fun to be around, he always made her smile. Whether he was doing impressions or talking with passion about his fave comic, he was just a really endearing person to be around, and she was happy that he and Quinn had started dating. She knew he’d get a gorgeous girlfriend because he was fine as heck!

When she saw Stevie peek around Sam, she waved at him, laughing softly as he took off running. “If there weren’t toys around all over the place I’d be concerned honestly. Worried the twins got abducted by pod people or something.” She loved the Evans home, it was the perfect mix of comfy, inviting, and decorative. She loved looking at the pictures of Tennessee they had on the wall, and of course the family pictures as well. “So, you ready to make a bet? I bet I can get them to clean up their things in the next 10 minutes. If I win, you have to let me and Stacey braid your hair. If I lose...well, what do you want if I lose?”

Chuckling at the pod people comment because honestly, he’d probably think they were pod people too. They walked towards the family room, and he nearly tripped over a toy truck. “Yeah, we can make that bet...I don’t know how you’re gonna do it without mind control.” He stopped when the reached the room and looked at her. “You have to show me how to beat that one part of Asura’s Wrath.”

“A girl never tells her secrets, but I suppose I can help you out with the game,” she replied as she sat her backpack over by the entertainment center, out of the way of the twin tornadoes. “Now watch me work my magic,” She gave him a wink before she scrolled through her song list and found “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5. The beat would get the kiddies moving, and she could make up lyrics that would cover up any suggestive stuff. “Whoever gets finished picking up the toys first gets to pick something awesome out of my magic backpack.” She sang.

Sam rolled his eyes playfully. One day, he’d get her to show him even if he lost this bet. He wondered what she was up to when she went into her bag and was a little confused when she pulled out her iPod. He watched her curiously as the twins came running into the room to see what she was doing. She promised them a treat, and he was pretty sure that he’d never seen them so eager to clean up.

Mercedes was pretty good with kids. She babysat to earn extra money and had a nice clientele list. The majority of them were people in her church, and a few in her neighborhood. She sang along to the music, dancing with the twins in between their battle to get the toys put away the fastest. “The key to cleaning up is to make it fun, or to make it a competition. If you can do both, you can do almost anything.” She said with a soft chuckle.

Once the twins had completed the tasks, she took out the Sega Genesis and the games, and then she handed them both coloring books with the special markers that would only work in the coloring books. “I also brought some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, but I’m pretty sure you can’t have any until after dinner.” Last thing the twins needed was sugar in them right now, the hyper little cuties.

It wasn’t that the twins were bad, but it was almost impressive that she could get them to do what they were supposed to with a song and promise of a treat. His mom did similar things, but it didn’t work when he tired. He nodded at the advice and gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks...you’re gonna be a great mom someday,” he commented before realizing what he’d said. “I mean...when we grow up,” he added lamely. Luckily, Stevie distracted him with a question so he had something else to focus on.

“Can’t we just have a half a cookie?” Stevie questioned, tilting his head to the side like a curious puppy as he spoke.

Stacy’s green eyes widened. “Mommy said no dessert before dinner!”

“Stacy,” Stevie whined, glaring at his sister.

Sam tried to hide his amused grin before he sobered a little. “Hey, hey...she’s right. No dessert before dinner, bud. You know that,” he said gently, hoping to kill the fight before it started. “Mercedes already gave you a nice treat. You should say thank you again and enjoy it.”

“Thank you,” the twins said in unison before going back to coloring.

She smiled, shaking her head slightly. “I’m not having kids until I’m at least 30. I’ve got so much I want to try and do, so when I finally settle down, I’ll be able to be a really good mommy. Maybe. I’ll have to get a husband and all that first, but yeah.” She ducked her head slightly, feeling a little silly talking about something that far off.

She sat down on the couch, thinking of a way to change the subject. “Oh, are you going to enter the art contest?” There was a contest to come up with a new school logo for tshirts and other school merchandise. “I bet you’d do awesome at that.” She knew it wasn’t exactly his style of art, but he was good at a lot of styles.

Sam loved his art. He loved drawing and creating things in Photoshop. He even had his own Deviantart account, but he was still kind of shy about it. He’d only ever shared his stuff with a few people. She was one of them. “I don’t know. I don’t think I want to…” he said, ducking his head.

“That’s okay,” she smiled encouragingly. “I just want you to know that I think you’re good enough to win. Sometimes it’s nice to know that other people think you’re good at something you really love, you know?” She hoped that made sense. “Do you still want to go to Wizard Con with me and Royce in the summer?”

“Thanks, Mercedes, that means a lot.” It wasn’t that Quinn wasn’t supportive of him and his art. She was, a lot, but it still felt nice to hear Mercedes say it. He really believed she believed he could win. Maybe he’d submit something secretly just in case it didn’t get picked. Then no one would know. “Yeah, I totally still wanna go.”

“Sweet! Start talking to your parents now, that way you have time to negotiate a deal if necessary.” She grinned. “Royce is very responsible and trustworthy so hopefully they’ll be okay with it. Do you think you’re going to dress up or anything? Royce wants to go as Jax from Mortal Kombat.” She peered over the back of the couch, checking on the twins who were still engrossed in their coloring books.

Sam was suddenly really stoked. He couldn’t wait for the summer to get there. “I don’t think they’ll be too strict. It’s just like a day or two right? I think since you’re brother’s going too then they know I’m not sneaking away with you,” he joked, but his mind immediately went to what it might be like to sneak away before he pushed the thought away. He had a girlfriend. He shouldn’t be thinking like that. “Oohhhh maybe I should go a Sub Zero.”

She nodded her head. “Yep. We can get two day passes and drive both days, but my dad might let us use his points for a free hotel room, maybe. We’ll have to work out all the details to see. Plus I don’t want Quinn to feel weird about that, so...yeah, definitely would have to get 2 hotel rooms, just so the parents and girlfriends don’t think we’re acting inappropriately.” She felt her cheeks get super warm. “Not that that is remotely a concern, but parents are weird about things like that.” A subject change was very much in order right now. “Oh that would be cool! All the pictures will be taken.”

“Yeah, my parents would definitely think that's weird. Not Quinn though, you don't have to worry about that. She knows we’re just friends,” he said as a reassurance, but he didn't add that Quinn didn't know he was attracted to Mercedes or that he would've asked her out if he hadn’t ended up with her first. He’d never cheat on her or anything, but Mercedes was hot. And Sam really liked her.

“Quinn never has to worry about things like that, she’s easily one of the top prettiest girls in school.” She smiled as Stacy showed her the picture she had finished. “That’s amazing! You’re going to be as good as your big brother if you keep that up.” She turned her attention back to Sam, amused at how much of a baby face he had. His parents made very attractive kids. “But Santana is the hottest, I’m under best friend contract to say that.” She chuckled.

“True, she’s beautiful, but she’s not the only beautiful girl at school,” Sam replied looking at her as she looked at his siblings. She really had no idea how beautiful she was, he thought. Her compliment to his sister really made the little girl happy, and he was grateful he'd called her over. “Santana's hot, but she's not really my type.”

“Santana is a lot to handle, but she’s a really nice person. I went through this phase where I wanted her to marry my brother when she got older so she would be my sister. I was a little kid, so don’t judge.” She smiled. “You have a type? Well, I mean it’s obviously Quinn. So that means you like smart, sophisticated, and beautiful girls. Which makes sense, I can totally see that.” She jumped slightly. “Oh, I forgot that I brought you something too!” She got up and headed over to her backpack. “Stevie and Stacy, has Sam been a good big brother today?”

Sam mouth bowed into a wide grin as she told him the story about wanting Santana to marry her brother, but when she asked if he had a type, she was talking so fast that she didn't give him a chance to respond. He couldn't really say that Quinn wasn't the only kind of girl that fit into that category. He just ended up nodding and biting back a sigh. Then she walked over to her bag again, saying she had a surprise for him, and he waited in his spot to see what she had.

“I guess so,” Stevie replied after tilting his head in thought at the question.

Stacy, on the other hand, was always Sam’s biggest cheerleader. She nodded emphatically. “Sammy’s the bestest big brother.”

Mercedes adored Sam, but she did not want to hear him wax poetic on all the ways Quinn was the epitome of perfection. She knew it was silly, but the only person she could deal with the whole I love my boyfriend/girlfriend stuff from was Tana, and she never did that anyway. She probably wouldn’t feel that way when she got her own boyfriend, but that was probably never going to happen before she graduated high school. She chuckled softly at Stevie’s response, shaking her head a little. Stacy’s response didn’t surprise her at all. “Well then, I suppose I can give him these since he’s the bestest.” She pulled out an Avengers comic book and handed it to him. “I hope you don’t have this one. I saw it and thought you’d like it.” She knew he wasn’t a fan of reading regular books, but he really liked comics.

He wasn’t sure what she was handing him until he could see the cover properly. He looked down at the colorfully drawn graphics before him, and he expression changed from amused to amazed and surprised. “Whoa...I didn’t get this one! Holy-” He cut himself off when he remembered his siblings were in the room. “-heck! You didn’t have to do that!” He reached out and pulled her into a tight hug, careful not to crush his new prized possession, then stepped back again.

“What is it?” Stevie asked as he hurried to his brother’s side. Stacy was right behind him, and he leaned down to show them.

Sam’s expression was so freaking adorable that she wished she had thought to take a picture of him. She was usually pretty good at picking out gifts for her friends, so she was very happy she had gotten Sam’s right. When he hugged her, Mercedes felt like the room had just jumped up a million degrees in temperature and she was super thankful that he stepped back so she could actually take a breath to get her senses in order. Why did she feel like couldn't breath when he got that close?

While the Evans kids were busy checking out the comic, she busied herself with connecting the Sega Genesis to the tv.

Eventually, Sam took the comic to his room to read later and headed back into the family room where Mercedes was hooking up her Sega. The twins had moved into the room and were now coloring at the coffee table. So he sat down on the floor closer to the tv and picked up a controller. “What are we playing today?”

“Only the classics of course,” she had brought all the Sonic games, ToeJam & Earl, Golden Axe, Street Fighter 2, and Lion King for the kids. “I figure I can kick your butt at Street Fighter for a bit.” She was a pro at trash talking over video games, she had learned that from Royce. She sat down next to him, but not too close.

Sam’s grin grew. He was impressed by her trash talking skills. She was seriously one of the fiercest gaming competitors he’d ever met. So he was ready to try his hardest to beat her in Street Fighter 2. “You’re on. I hope I don’t send you home crying.” He said before settling in to play.

#char: mj #para #para 002 #samcedes rp

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purplesurveys · 5 years

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497

Have you ever cut your own hair? Nope, my mom would never allow me; and tbh I never would allow myself to do it either. What do you eat most frequently? Rice. I have it for every meal, 7 days a week. Except for when I have pasta. Are you a fan of video games? I’m a fan of watching people play them, and there are a lot of video games I have sentimental attachment to because I was raised in a home where all the boys knew how to work a console; but I myself don’t play. What's your favorite color combination? Black/white with anything earthy. I’m all for simple tones. Did you share a locker at school? No, we all had our own.

What's one sport you could never play? Basketball. I never could understand what the rules were. When we had basketball for PE in high school, I would literally just stand on the court when it came time to play because I never had a grasp on the game. I was a sucky teammate fosho. Blue or black ink? Black. I hate using pens with blue ink. Have you ever sang karaoke? I think the last time was when I was 12 or 13. I hate hate hate being the center of attention and the last thing I want is to sing (which I don’t do) on a microphone that’s gonna amplify my voice and will force people to look at me. What was the last concert you attended? Man it was nearly a year ago, but it was Paramore. Have you held anyone's hand in the past week? Yup, you just barely caught the timeframe! I last held hands last Thursday, exactly a week from today. What's your favorite perfume/body spray/cologne? I bought Beyoncé’s Heat Rush a few years back because I was a huge fan (still am), but I didn’t know I was gonna end up loving the scent so much. It’s still my perfume today and it’s my go-to when I’m going on a date or going somewhere fancy and/or formal. How long does it take you to get ready in the morning? 45 minutes should be generous enough. I have to beat the traffic everyday so I don’t devote a lot of time simply to get ready. What is the oldest age you think should wear makeup? No age is too old for makeup. How old were you when you went on your first date? I’ve never had a first date per se...I did have one special museum + early dinner ‘date’ with Gab that ended up becoming memorable. I was 16 then. What's your nationality(ies)? Filipino. Pretty sure there’s some distant, distant Spanish blood somewhere down the line. Are you an open book? Very open. Do you think you're a good secret keeper? For the most part, yeah; but there’ll be times that I wouldn’t be able to help it and spill to Gabie. Which is fine, because she forgets things easily and is 101% not up to date with and doesn’t care for anyone’s lives. She’s super unbothered which is why I kinda choose to tell her stories; but if she had a big mouth, then I probably won’t spill secrets to her. Name one fashion trend you could never follow. Oversized shirts. Do you prefer long hair or short hair? Right now, I’m preferring short. When do you plan to go to sleep tonight? Just my bed. Has anyone besides your family seen you naked? Yes. If so, who? My girlfriend. What exotic animal would you love to have as a pet? NOPE. Do you want kids when you're older? Yeah, I do. Did your parents sign you up for anything you hated as a child? They made me sing to 100+ guests on my 7th birthday party if that counts. I had ballet when I was 5, but it wasn’t that I hated it...it’s just that I was too young to understand what was happening and what I was signed up to, which was partly why I did so badly in the class. Where's your cell phone? I lost my first cellphone on a 1st grade field trip, so it’s definitely somewhere in the waterfalls we went to 14 years ago. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Egg. What are your feelings about Octomom? I don’t really know the circumstances surrounding her, so. Do you know of Smosh? Of course, I grew up watching them. I was there when their popularity exploded, and a little longer after that. I don’t anymore, but sometimes I’ll go back and watch their 2011-2013 skits, and my personal favorite series of theirs, Lunchtime with Smosh. Do you drink enough water daily? Yep. I looooooove water; I probably drink too much of it haha. Is your diet healthy? I think it *could* fall under healthy? I eat too much junk for my life but I always balance it out with veggies and I just basically make sure that everything else I eat can be beneficial for me, so it balances all the junk out. What's your favorite fruit? Yeah no I hate fruit. What was your favorite Halloween costume? The year when I dressed up as AJ, because I got noticed by her for it. Also the time I dressed up as Sofie, because that was lowkey hilarious. Have you purchased any cool objects from a foreign country? No because everything in other countries (at least the ones I’ve been to) is SO EXPENSIVE. I prefer taking photos, they serve as the best souvenirs for me. Are you on a laptop or a desktop computer right now? Laptop. Where do you plan to post this survey? On my Tumblr, which you’re on right now if you’ve reached this point of the survey. Do you remember anyone's number by heart? Just my mom’s, sister’s, and Gabie’s. Are you a morning person or a late night owl? Night owl, definitely. Name something you will never try in your lifetime. Fruits that I haven’t already tried. What do you think is your biggest flaw? I chicken out of certain things because I’m afraid of failing. First physical trait you notice in the sex you're attracted to? Body language. That technically counts right? Hahaha. How about personality wise? How they speak to me. Are you sick often? I’m sick never. Would you rather have strep throat or an ear infection? I’ve had neither and would like it to stay that way thank you??? When did you last shower? A couple of hours ago, because it was weirdly and annoyingly hot today. Do you have neat handwriting? Yes, I get a lot of compliments for my penmanship. Are you a messy or organized person? Depends on what the space is. My bag for school can get very messy, but my files are always organized; and my room is what I’d call messy-organized in that it’s a mess but I remember where every single thing is. At what age do you hope to get married? 27-28. Is being thin really all that great? I don’t hate being it, that’s for sure. Which of the seven deadly sins do you think you're most guilty of? Envy. How much time have you spent on the computer today? Pretty much the whole day. My body wanted to watch a whole season of Queer Eye today haha.

What size shoe are you? 6-7. How was the weather today? Ugh, MAKE IT RAIN ALREADY. Do you live above, below, or on the Equator? Above the equator, but it’s very very close to it. Do you know how to use Photoshop? Nope. Admit it, you're thinking about someone right now. I’m thinking about the next meal I’m gonna be having lmfao. Where is he/she? It’s in the dining area. Where was your first job? I haven’t had one yet. Favorite year in high school? 3rd or 4th. East or West? East? Where did your first kiss take place? On my bed. What color do you wear most often? I can’t tell which but it’s definitely black or white.

Who was the last person you talked on the phone to? Gab. Have you ever been to a night club? Nah, I don’t know if clubs are my thing. I’m much more comfortable in bars. Are you allergic to anything? I’m not. What's the best place you have ever eaten? The buffet at Circles, Sambokojin, or the food I had at my cruise ship vacation. I really can’t pick. Do you own a hair straightener? I don’t have one of my own, but my mom will let me borrow hers if I need it. Are you barefoot right now? Correcto. Are you subscribed to any magazine? Nope. Puppies or kittens? Puppies. If you had a billion dollars, where would your first investment be made? A modern, spacious house. Who is the best artist you've seen live? PARAMORE YOOOOOOOOOOOO. They connect with their fans so well and you can easily tell you love what they do. Coldplay is a very close second as their production value is fucking insane. Any major plans coming up this week? No not really. I have a date with Gab tomorrow and we’re gonna go out and watch Midsommar, but that’s it for this week. She, Angela, and I are taking a road trip to Nasugbu next Monday though so that’s pretty major. Did you know they never told you Arnold's last name in Hey, Arnold? I never really thought about it. Would you rather watch a romantic comedy or watch a thrilling horror movie? OMG, my two favorite genres :( I’m watching a horror flick tomorrow so I can go for a romcom right now. Why is Paris Hilton famous? Because of her great-grandfather and her Iconic show with Nicole Richie hahaha. How is your hair styled right now? It’s just down and dried out right now.

Favorite person that you've talked to today? Angela. Do you need AC right now? AC is always a good idea in the Philippines. Do more people call you by a nickname or your first name? My first name is already my nickname/given name. Name something you're proud of. Still being here. How do you feel about couples who say 'I love you' too soon? No judgment. If that’s how they communicate and if it works, so be it. What's the most recent favor you've done for somebody? I drove Laurice to UPTC last Tuesday so she can catch her bus going back all the way to Alabang. Are you at home right now? Yesssssssss I’m so happy to just be at home this whole week. What did you last spend money on? My parking fee at UPTC. Does any accent annoy you? No. How about turn you on? I like certain English accents but not to the point where they turn me on haha. Are you wearing any jewelry? Not right now. Do you get along better with your mom or your dad? Dad. Are you craving anything right now? BURGERS What's worse: Crocs or Uggs? Crocs. Do you knock before you open doors? Yeah, as much as I can. Do you know what a sock on the doorknob means? I think Penny from Big Bang Theory was the one who explained that this means that there are people having sex in the room, but then again it was a tie on the doorkob in that episode so I dunno if they still mean two different things. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate. What's your zodiac sign? Taurus. Does Fred from Youtube annoy you? No, not really.

#survey #surveys

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yogaadvise · 7 years

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Ritual Inspiration: Sri Dharma Mittra

' No person desires to exercise by the educator? In India, people would combat to position their mat by the instructor's feet, but not here,' jokes Sri Dharma Mittra of the voids around him in a really complete Thursday mid-day course at New york city City's stretching Dharma Yoga exercise New York Center, which he established in 1975.

Five feet 6 inches tall and also 75 years old, Mittra has a simple existence, yet it's reasonable why pupils might be intimidated. He radiates a feeling of rooted understanding that a person attains through a life time of technique and almost 5 decades of teaching. Born in Brazil, Mittra was a pupil of Yogi Gupta, the 3rd wonderful yoga master to come to the United States and also founder of the initial Hatha yoga exercise organization in America. It was in tribute to his teacher that Mittra created the 'Master Yoga Chart of 908 Poses' Thirty Years back. To put together the source, Mittra modeled for 1,350 photos of stances (300+ were his very own invention!), which he after that diligently cut and also pasted with each other on a poster. This pre-Photoshop archive of poses has actually because offered the international yoga exercise neighborhood as an important teaching device. Mittra likewise composed guide Asanas: 608 Yoga exercise Postures, as well as he produced the DVD series 'Maha Sadhana: The Fantastic Technique' (degrees 1 and also 2). While he is renowned for his proficiency as well as chronicle of the physical technique, he states that spirituality is main to his instruction. He encourages trainees to discover how you can be compassionate, considerate, as well as reverent to all beings. 'We spend the majority of our power looking for self-realization, not stances. Positions are simply prep work. Many individuals assume that yoga exercise is everything about poses. Nope!' he says.

Today, Mittra teaches a minimum of 4 days a week at his workshop, takes a trip throughout the country for workshops, as well as he claims he doesn't mean on decreasing anytime quickly. 'If you have a little spiritual expertise, you must share it. This is the best form of charity. As long as I am in healthiness physically and psychologically, I intend to show and share what I understand in order to help others. To conserve power, I might take a trip and show a small amount much less in the years ahead, yet I intend to remain energetic for as lengthy as feasible.' Read on for some highlights from our discussion with Mittra, in which he shares a look of his daily method and shares how his viewpoint on yoga exercise and life has progressed over the years.

What made you prefer to commit your life to yoga as well as not the enthusiasms of your young people, like bodybuilding, wrestling, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu? When I was young, I had the wish to be the very best at something. I intended to be an Olympic gymnast, however there was no chance for me to examine. I tried to swim competitively, yet I was currently older as well as smoking at the time. When I tried my very first race, I was out of breath before finishing also one lap. Bodybuilding just went to a point due to the fact that the innovation in Brazil at the time wasn't much and the only way to compete was to eat egg yolks constantly, and also I soon expanded to hate that. If we had the supplements after that we have today, who knows what I could have done? All this was actually next to the point, however, because deep in, I was starving for spiritual traits. When I met my Expert, I knew that was it for me-the search mored than. It was not regarding trying to be the finest at something, but regarding providing everything to the Almighty One. My early life assisted me a lot, though, since the self-control as well as respect for the instructor I found out in other areas served me extremely well in yoga.

What is the approach behind the Dharma Yoga New York Center? The objective of yoga is to get mental as well as physical power so you are able to do well in focus. From focus, you can achieve anything you desire. In my situation, I desire to discover, 'That am I?' However you may use it for your profession, your household, and so on. You may utilize these powers to spiritual traits and also not toward things like popularity, name, or prestige.

Was there ever before a minute during the early days of developing your facility that you intended to quit? When I had my initial school, I spent everything I needed to make it stunning and also great for the students. The extraordinary, just one trainee revealed up. I sat down at the harmonium to lead the om to start the class and shut my eyes. When I opened them, all I saw was one foot as the door was shutting behind her. I was a small amount nervous, yet the next course, whole lots of trainees came, then they simply kept coming.

After dealing with students everyday for 47 years, do you still take pleasure in teaching? I don't teach beginners any longer. Obviously, I appreciate them, but they need more attention. I think I'm running out of patience. I love to teach novices one-on-one, yet in the class, it's a disturbance, especially when we have other advanced pupils in the class. Trainees who are just starting most likely to my other teachers' courses. When they discover the positions, they have some even more spiritual high qualities as well as begin looking for knowledge. That's when they involve my innovative class. I actually delight in teaching the pupil that is even more ready due to the fact that I have greater traits for them.

Do you get tired mentor? How do you remain inspired? No, I don't obtain bored whatsoever. I like it when I see trainees being reverent, considerate, as well as following the guidelines. I obtain more excited as well as I have excellent points for them. I could see it in their eyes then that causes me to share something higher with them.

How has your individual technique altered over time? I do not exercise for spiritual purposes-to gain expertise or to recognize things-anymore. I believe I have my diploma already, so I don't have to maintain going to college for spiritual development. I exercise to keep the mind calm so that I can deal with the globe today. Also, I only practice a couple of stances (two or 3 as opposed to 10) a day to keep good wellness so that I can carry out courses. There are some positions that I need to do no matter what. Whether I show, I need to base on my head, do shoulder stand, as well as one of the most crucial of all, Savasana. I falling asleep in Savasana everyday. These three positions help to recharge, relax, invigorate, and also fix the body.

Would you claim there's even more anxiety on the planet today than when you first started practicing yoga? Of training course! Modern technology triggers a lot interruption. That's why I need to do something each day to relax the mind. Everybody is running occasionally. We have to be more attentive. Also the smart man needs to constantly be alert, specifically currently with the iPad and high-def TV, which I love. I've never ever been to India. I choose to see it on HDTV.

Is there a mantra that you return to with time to remember your purposes as a teacher? I generally remember a concept that guru Yogi Gupta offered to me: 'I bow to the inner-most self. Please utilize this body currently.' Every time I instruct, I say, 'Whoever wants to use this body as well as mind, go!'

What have the trainees instructed you over the years? Oh, whole lots of points. I'm still learning since there are trainees of all levels, all problems, more youthful souls, older spirits, individuals who are actually depriving, others who will not change their ways. So you have to be very patient as well as have unique strategies. A great yoga educator readjusts postures and also breathing as well as also the spiritual practice to fit the condition of the pupils. There are people who were birthed with or came below with top quality, very reverent and also asking me greater concerns about the self, reincarnation, as well as exactly what would certainly take place to me if I died tonight. I have had students here for years and also years and they have never asked me inquiries, like 'That am I? Just what is god?' They are so busy functioning to get psychological and also physical powers, however nothing spiritual. It's not incorrect. When they see everything vanishing, one by one, as they are aging, they will at some point look to the spiritual part of it.

What is it like being so respected by your students? I don't feel comfortable being respected, revered, as well as worshiped. In some cases I have to play that role. Not for my own great, but also for the good of my trainees. I despise it in some cases when people come and also touch my feet from respect. It's important for them to establish humbleness and also respect.

Does it ever go to your head? Deep within, I value some qualities that I was born with. I never ever think that I am much better than others. There are actions that this body as well as mind did in a previous life that I don't remember. I attempt to be really humble, reverent, as well as considerate. However I have my points that I'm functioning on. For instance, I can not quit consuming sugar. Every little thing I consume is sweet. Even my eco-friendly juice needs to have an apple. As well as occasionally, I'll consume a piece of chocolate or days. This is the only challenge that I have. Not also the smart male is ideal yet.

What is your personal philosophy? We are not the body and the mind. The body and also the mind are deciding in life as well as dealing with the world around us. I can see myself speaking to you. I could see myself mentor. I could see myself starving. I could see myself getting old-not the self, yet the body. I can hear my Portuguese accent. I am always claiming that I am a witness. I am not the body, not the mind. I am eternal bliss. I am the nectar of knowledge. I am the life behind awareness. This body of mine resembles a Verizon cell phone. The yogi who recognizes the self knows, 'I am the signal.' When the cellular phone is asleep, it's not capturing the signal, however the signal is still existing at all times. 'I am not the cellular phone, I am the signal.' We are always just a witness.

What is the first idea that enters your mind when you awaken in the morning? I consider the day in advance of me. And also occasionally I ask yourself, 'How much time do I have to stay below?' I need a brand-new cell phone!

If a person has only 5 minutes to devote to wellness a day, exactly what need to they do? I would state practice meditation on compassion for those 5 minutes. Just what is concern? Exactly what does it look like? For instance, every person has automatic compassion in the direction of a friended or family member, like a boy. When he hurts himself or is not really feeling well, you try to put on your own in his footwears. That capability to see on your own in others is compassion.

What's the most effective suggestions you have actually ever received? Without an uncertainty it was from my Guru. He informed me regarding the Genuine Self, the Supreme Self, that stays at the center of the breast, the best side of the heart. That is truth Master. When he informed me regarding that, I still heard him and also revered him as well as just what he said, yet I realized that everything I needed was right there in me, the like in every creature. This is the finest understanding any individual could share with any person else.

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