#and sadly its on places like insta and twitter and here

[pinayelf]

seeing as tumblr is the place I spent years building a platform on its hard not to panic (again) when there's possibilities of it sinking (again) because my income solely relies on commissions and my art reaching people

which is super hard to do on algorithm based websites and I've never been successful abt it

[gamergirl929]

She Was A Skater Girl (Tobin Heath x Reader)

Anonymous Request: Heyy, just loved it your new imagine with tobin and i know your requests are closed, so maybe when you have time, could you write one with tobin and skater!reader?

The breeze was relatively nice considering it was so humid out, but you didn’t care, all that mattered was that your skateboard was beneath your feet.  

Portland streets were busy at this time, a number of people on their morning commutes, everyone rushing to get to work.  

All that rushing, luckily for you, hadn’t been a big deal for you, but sadly, it was ABOUT to be.

“HEY!” Someone shouts, your eyes widening when someone lays on their horn. 

You attempt to screech to a halt, but you quickly realize you can’t do so fast enough.

You instead fling yourself backwards off your board and land back first on the road with a violent thud, watching as the woman's car flies towards the intersection.

You watch sadly as your board rolls in front of the fast-moving car, being crushed by its tires as it flies by, the woman not even stopping to check on the person she'd just nearly ran over.  

You wince in pain, resting your head on the road beneath you.  

“Are you okay!?” A woman asks, dropping down on the ground beside you and you groan.  

“No...” You grimace as you sit up, yelling down the road where the woman had driven off.  

“YOU BITCH! THAT WAS MY ONLY BOARD!” You scream at the car as you rub the back of your head, your head that’s covered in a hot sticky fluid you realize is your own blood.  

You hadn’t even remembered hitting your head. 

“Ow. Shit.” You grimace, your eyes fluttering closed.  

“Keep your eyes open, an ambulance is on the way.”  

The woman’s soft voice makes your eyes flutter open, your brows furrowing as you look a the woman hovering above you, your eyes widening.  

“Holy shit, you’re Tobin Heath.”  

You, again, sit up, your vision dotted with black spots as your head starts to spin. 

“Here, lie back.” Tobin says again, this time your head meeting something soft instead of the hard concrete.  

You turn to her with a smile.  

“You’re really pretty.” You murmur, groaning at the pain in your head, missing the noticeable blush on Tobin’s cheeks.  

“Wait!” You yell, trying to sit up again. 

“Where’s my board?” You whine, your vision blurring as someone comes into view, carrying the two pieces of your board. 

“That was my only board.” You whine louder.  

“I think you need to worry more about your head right now.” Tobin guides you back down, the woman grimacing when she sees blood coming out of your ear.  

“Just, don’t move okay?” She places a hand on your chest and you hum.  

“I’ve had that board forever.” You pout, Tobin shaking her head.  

“A board can be replaced.”  

You shake your head.  

“Not that one, it was the only board I had when I started making vids.” You sigh, glancing at the woman. 

“You know some things can’t be replaced.”  

The sound of sirens makes your head ache and you grimace.  

“Why are they so loud?” You mumble and Tobin winces.  

“You took a pretty hard hit.”  

Tobin frowns when you start to mumble, words slurring into an incoherent mumble.

“Get my board, yeah?” You slur the forward nodding as EMTs rush your way, surrounding you.  

Tobin is able to get the two halves of your board before she’s back at your side, frowning as EMTs get you onto a backboard, incoherent mumbles leaving your open mouth.  

Though what Tobin CAN make out is her name, before you fall silent, losing consciousness.  

                                                          ***

The first thing you feel when you regain consciousness is pain, a throbbing pain in your head that makes you grimace, the insistent beeping of a machine nearby making you growl.  

“Damn.” You murmur as you shift, your back aching from the impact of slamming to the concrete.  

“Hey.” You hear a familiar voice, your brows furrowing as your eyes crack open.  

“Have you seen my board?” You ask, Tobin snorting as she nods to the corner of the room where your broken board is resting.  

“Did they find the driver?” You yawn, Tobin shaking her head as she moves to sit in the chair beside your bed.  

“No, but they’re looking.” She frowns and you growl.  

“She owes me some compensation for my board.”  

Tobin snorts.  

“You remember she almost killed you, right?” She asks and you shrug.  

“Yeah, maybe.”  

Tobin shakes her head, eyes widening when she hears a familiar voice.  

“Holy shit, you didn’t tell me the skateboarder was fucking Y/N Y/L/N.” The blonde squeals and you wince, your head throbbing.  

“THE Emily Sonnett knowns ME? Fucking sick.” You grin.  

“Wait... You know her?” Tobin points at you and smirk.  

“WELL YEAH. Emily snorts. “This is Y/N Y/L/N one of the best influencers on Insta.” Emily claps her hands giddily, frowning when she sees your board in the corner, completely snapped in half.  

“Aww, no...” She frowns, walking towards it, taking the two halves in her hands.  

“You’re an influencer?” Tobin asks, brown orbs wide and you nod.  

“So that’s what you meant by videos earlier.”  

You nod.  

“Tobin? Are you in here?”  

Your eyes widen when Christen Press rounds the corner, the forward’s green orbs widening when she sees you.  

“Y/N Y/L/N is the skater from this morning!?” She stares at you in awe and you snicker.  

“Seriously? You know me too?” You ask, the forward nodding in excitement.  

“Chrissyyyyyyy!” Emily whines holding the two halves of your board up with a pout.  

“Oh no...” She frowns, turning back towards you. “Sorry about your board, are you okay?”  

You shrug.  

“It’s okay, could be worse I guess... And I have no idea, no one’s told me.”  

Just as the words leave your mouth, a woman in a white lab coat walks in, smiling softly.  

“Good afternoon Ms. Y/L/N, how are you feeling?” She asks as she checks the machines next to your bed and you grimace.  

“Not great doc, not great.”  

“I imagine so, you’ve got a skull fracture.” Your eyes widen, as do Tobin, Emily and Christen’s.  

“Does that mean I can’t skate?” You ask, Tobin turning to you with wide eyes.  

“No, you can’t.” She growls and you huff.  

“Why not?”  

You stiffen.  

“Wait, where’s my phone?” You ask, glancing around the room, frowning when you see it too by your board, shattered.  

“How will my followers know what happened?” You pout and Emily hums, looking at her own phone.  

“Apparently they already do.”  

Emily passes you her phone, your eyes narrowing as you read the screen.  

Influencer Y/N Y/L/N involved in an accident in Portland, Oregon

You scroll further down the page.  

Y/N, Instagram Influencer injured in a near hit and run collision in Portland, Oregon

You shake your head.  

“Well now I have to let my followers know I’m okay.” You shake your head. “Leaving them on a cliffhanger like this is some damn ABC TV show.”  

Tobin shakes her head, passing you her phone.  

“Here.”

You put your palms together, ducking down as you bow to her.  

“My hero.”  

Needless to say, the second you’re logged into Insta you go to post, taking a picture of yourself, noticeable scuff marks on your face.

You type a quick caption, your tongue poking out of the corner of your mouth as you focus on posting, missing the small smile that stretches across Tobin’s face. 

“I’m sure you guys have seen the news about the accident, I’m okay, but they still haven’t caught the driver.”

You frown, glancing at your broken board.  

“Doc says I have a skull fracture and my back is pretty messed up... Unfortunately, she ran over my board, so I won’t be skating for a while, mostly because of the skull fracture, but whatever, I’ll keep you guys updated.”  

You glance around the room, smiling when you see Christen, Emily and Tobin sitting around, Emily still pouting over your broken board.  

“I’d like to thank, Tobin Heath, yes, USWNT forward Tobin Heath, for helping me after the accident as well as Christen Press and Emily Sonnett for coming in for a visit, mostly for Tobin, but still, FUCKIN’ SICKKKKKK.”  

You make the post and make your way to Twitter to make a similar post, quickly realizing you’re trending on Twitter.

“I’ve only ever trended twice on Twitter, once for skating in a mall down the escalator and running from security, and now.” You sigh.  

“Awesome.”  

You pass Tobin her phone back, smiling softly as the woman grins.  

“I really have to thank you for being there for me this morning. If it wasn’t for you, I probably would’ve chased after her.” You snort, Tobin throwing her head back with a laugh.  

“I don’t doubt that.”  

You smile your eyes searching Tobin’s face.  

“Still, I really appreciate it.”

Emily and Christen share a glance, the two smiling as you and Tobin simply stare at one another with lightly flushed cheeks.  

You lean back, rubbing the back of your head, groaning loudly.  

“You okay?” Christen asks and you whine.  

“My boarddddddddd...” You pout, Tobin shaking her head.  

Emily takes your board and brings it to the bed, handing you the two pieces.  

“Maybe, ummmm, tape?” She suggests, shrugging and you shake your head.  

“I don’t think it’ll work this time.”  You frown as you examine the splintered wood. “Well, it didn’t work LAST time to be honest, I ended up breaking my leg.”  

“You have a lot of accidents, don’t you?” Tobin teases and you roll your eyes.  

“Accidents are a huge part of skating.” You smirk.

“But when you finally hit the move it’s so fucking sick.” You nod with a grin, remembering how you’d landed the trick after your leg had healed, on a solid, break free board.  

“Wait, you didn’t trend when you skated off that condo’s roof?” Emily asks and you shake your head, the woman scoffing.  

“That’s dumb, and it wasn’t even your house!”  

Tobin watches you and Emily talk intently about your past tricks and run ins with the law, the woman smiling when you let out a belly shaking laugh, that laugh making you wince, your back and head throbbing.  

The more you talk, the more Tobin notes that your eyelids start to flutter as you visibly fight off sleep.  

Tobin shakes her head.  

“You should rest.” She whispers and you grunt.  

“I don’t want to...” You pout, earning an eye roll from the forward.  

“Well you need to.” She says, eyes narrowed and your eyes widen.  

“She’s right.” Christen says as she moves to her feet.  

You huff, sending Tobin a mock glare.  

“Fine. Fine.”  

Tobin is about to turn away when you catch her wrist, the woman turning to look at you thoughtfully.  

“I-I want to thank you, I really appreciate you helping me today, and uhhhh, coming here with me.” You shrug bashfully, cheeks dusted pink.  

“It meant a lot to me.”  

Tobin smiles, covering your hand with her own.  

“It was the right thing to do.” She says, her own cheeks flushing. “And I was worried.”  

Your tired eyes widen, your cheeks flushing darker at the thought of the woman worrying about you.  

Christen's green orbs dart between the two of you before she clears her throat, pulling the two of you out of your trance.  

“Uhhh....” Tobin starts, the woman clearing her own throat. “I’ll call to check on you later, okay?” She says and you nod, letting out a yawn.  

“S-Sounds good.” You say as you tiredly wave at Emily and Christen.  

“It was great meeting you all, still can’t believe I met you guys.” You yawn.  

Moments after the words leave your mouth you doze off, Emily, Christen and Tobin watching you with small smiles, Tobin’s cheeks still flushed.  

The forward turns around, eyes widening when she sees the looks on Emily and Christen’s faces.  

“What?” She gripes, glancing over her shoulder at you once more before she moves out of the room, her two teammates on her heels.  

“Why are your cheeks red Toby?” Emily teases, and Tobin growls.  

“They aren’t.” She dismisses her and Christen snorts.  

“Yes, they are.”

Tobin growls louder, practically sprinting away from the two of them, Christen and Emily giggling.  

“How much do you want to bet she’ll come back to visit her?” Emily smirks and Christen nods.  

“Oh, she will.”  

                                                          ***

Much as the two had anticipated, Tobin had come back to the hospital, though this time, she had a gift, something she knew you would love.  

Christen had agreed as well, of course, teasing Tobin about heading back to the hospital to see you.  

Tobin had of course brushed her off, but in all honesty, Tobin had felt something when she met you, that twisting in her gut, her heart lightening in her chest.  

She wanted to know more about you, and she’d been lying if she hadn’t spent most the night learning about you, as well as watching your videos and looking at all your posts.  

In fact, she’d lost sleep because of it.

That didn’t matter to her though, what mattered was learning more about you, and what she learned was that you were a shy, yet charismatic and bold person. 

A woman who’d taken up skating at a young age and had even caught the eye of famous skaters like Tony Hawk, among others.  

You were kind hearted, someone that anyone who looked at your images and videos with kids could see, as well as anyone who’d read or watched any of your interviews. 

You were humble about your fame, and the way you talked told Tobin you didn’t really care for the fame, you just wanted to do what you loved, and that was skate.  

The closer she gets to your hospital room, the more her nerves rile up, the woman nervous about seeing you again.  

She’d be lying if she said she didn’t notice the way your eyes shined when you talked about skating, the way your smile brightened when talking about it and the way you’d ramble shyly during interviews.  

Tobin comes to a stop in front of your hospital room,  the woman curtly nodding to herself, gathering her courage before she knocks on the door.  

Tobin frowns when she gets no response, the woman peeking through the gap in the door to see you’re fast asleep, mouth hanging open as you snore softly.  

She pushes into the room quietly, tip toeing to the bed, the woman grinning when you grumble in your sleep.  

“Maybe I should come back later...” She mumbles to herself, ready to turn around and leave, that is, until your eyes flutter open tiredly.  

“Toby?” You rasp, voice rough from sleep, as you stretch, not even realizing that you’d called Tobin, Toby.  

“Hey.” She moves towards the bed with a smile, smiling at the bleary look on your face.  

“Am I dreaming?” You ask, yawning.  

Tobin snorts.  

“No, you’re not.”  

You grin.  

“SO, that means you came back to see me?” You give her a charming smile and she rolls her eyes, sitting in the chair beside your bed.  

“I guess I did.” She grins and you smirk.

“Couldn’t get enough of me?” You ask cockily and she hums.  

“Oh I’m getting there.” She teases and you grin, brows furrowing when you see the box resting in Tobin’s lap.

“What you got there?” You ask curiously, the forward grinning.

“It’s for you.”

You blink rapidly, brows furrowing.

“Wait, for me?” You say, the woman nodding.  

You shake your head.  

“You didn’t have to buy me anything...” Your bottom lip trembles as Tobin slowly opens the box, your eyes wide when you see its contents.  

“I didn’t. I made it.”  

Your eyes go glassy, mouth agape as you stare at the board Tobin holds up, the skate board covered in a mosh of colors, the bottom colored in exactly the same way.  

“Wait... This is...” You brush your thumbs along the smooth board.  

“This is A Popsicle Skateboard...” You whisper, turning to her with a trembling bottom lip.  

Tobin smiles, reaching for and placing a hand on the board beside your own.  

“Actually, it’s not just a Popsicle Board...” She grins. “It’s the original.”  

Your eyes widen, a lump forming in your throat as you scan the board again, though, this time your hand slides down the board, your fingertips brushing Tobin’s.  

“A-Are you sure?” You whisper, the forward smiling softly, surprising you and herself when she pushes your fingers apart, her fingers intertwining with yours.  

Your cheeks flush, your eyes darting from your tangled finger to Tobin’s face, back and forth until your eyes again lock with Tobin’s brown orbs, her cheeks dusted pink.  

Her lips split into a grin.  

“I’m sure.”  

[quakerjoe]

I'd like to leave this here... How To Protect Yourself From False Rape Allegations

How To Protect Yourself From False Rape Allegations-- (credit to @DanielleMuscato on Twitter/insta/patreon and u/DanielleMuscato on reddit)

I'm seeing a lot of scared men right now. My heart aches for you. I get it: You're just trying to go about your day when in a mere instant, your whole life could be turned upside down. It's a scary world—you could lose everything, just because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

With that in mind, I present my Top 10 Tips for Staying Safe from false rape accusations:

If you go to a party, either have only one drink, or only drink soda or water, so you can keep your wits about you. Never get tipsy around people you don't know and trust fully—it could come back to haunt you later. Even around people you fully trust, remember that most false rape allegations come from people you know. Be vigilant!

Use the buddy system, so you always have a witness! Only go to the bathroom with a friend, or ideally with a group of friends. Always have a friend walk you to your car, in case you run into a strange woman in the parking garage. Never go camping or hiking or biking or running or even just walking alone. NEVER go to a bar or concert or party or event alone; that is just asking for it.

If you're going out anywhere, make sure you text the specifics of your plans to at least one or two trusted friends, in case they need to verify your whereabouts to police later. You may also consider using a location sharing app so you have proof of where you were and when.

If you're going to exercise, make sure that you bring a friend, or even better, just exercise at home. Never go through a park alone. There might be a woman there who could accuse you.

When you're heading to class or work, never listen to music or podcasts on headphones. You need to listen carefully to your surroundings to make sure no woman is accusing you of anything.

When you're getting into your car at the end of the day, always check your backseat to make sure there aren't any women hiding back there. Never take shortcuts through alleys or parking lots that aren't extremely well lit, in case a woman is hiding there, waiting to accuse you.

Only take out the trash, walk the dog, get your mail, go to the ATM, or get gas during daylight hours. Most false rape accusations happen at night, and you don't want to become a statistic. If you MUST go out alone at night, make sure to get your phone out of your pocket and start recording video. Grasp the phone between your fingers so it's not obvious, but keep it ready in case a strange woman approaches you.

It's expensive to take Uber or Lyft all the time, I know. But never use public transportation after dark. It's just too risky. Indecent exposure and groping accusations are very common on the subway, and you can easily avoid this by simply taking a cab instead. Protect yourself.

Never rent ground-floor apartments, and make sure you lock all your windows at night, even if it's hot out. You never know if a woman is going to break into your bedroom to accuse you while you are asleep.

Last but not least, even if you follow all these tips, you could still be falsely accused. After all, no matter what steps you take to prevent it, it's simply a fact of life that every year, a low single-digit percentage of rape allegations will turn out to be false, on par with other false allegations of felonies, and that's just a sad truth we all have to live with. You can take precautions, but that's all you can do. Hope this helps.

-This is clearly satire however it does depict an interesting parallel to what women have been constantly told to prevent being raped, which then tends to put blame on the victim when it does happen.

Edit: fixed weird word bolding

Edit 2: as I've stated to some of the initial comments I am not the author of this piece, I wish I knew who was so I can credit them but when I stumbled upon it (on Facebook) it was reposted as a comment without credit. I just wanted to share because. It's an interesting think piece that might allow for some discussion and parallels to be drawn. The only part I personally wrote was the end to explain its satirical.

Edit 3: the word sarcastic to satire because this post isn't meant to come off as dismissing false rape accusations but is instead a commentary on victim blaming and these exact points being constantly told to women so that they can prevent being raped.

UPDATE: AUTHOR FOUND PLEASE GIVE HER ALL THE CREDIT! @DanielleMuscato on Twitter/insta/patreon and u/DanielleMuscato on reddit she did an amazing think piece on Twitter that lead to this post "what would you do if men had a 9 pm curfew" and the responses are fascinating! Go check it out give her a follow, she also hosts @RESISTpodcast, and is a civil rights activist so please show her some love!!

Her message: I'm the author of the post about how to avoid false allegations, although for some reason I appear to be unable to post on /r/TwoXChromosomes.

As you said, yes, this is clearly satire. The purpose of satire is not to belittle serious problems but to shame society into improving itself. As a civil-rights activist, writer, and public speaker, I do not see satire, aka humor-as-activism, as a negative thing by any stretch, especially when it works.

I got the idea for this post based on responses by thousands of women to a recent tweet of mine that went viral, in which I asked fellow women, as a thought experiment: "What would you do if all men had a 9pm curfew?" and imploring men to read the replies and learn something from us. I don't think I'm allowed to link to it directly, but it's easy to find if you google it and currently pinned on my Twitter (my Reddit username is my real name).

I'm glad this has resonated with so many people, both women and men and nonbinary folks. Street harassment, rape, date rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment are overwhelmingly familiar topics to every single woman I know, and sadly, every girl I know, too. Even though these crimes are overwhelmingly committed by men against women, most (straight, cis) men seem to be either completely oblivious to this issue at all, or barely cognizant of it as a real problem.

Things are JUST STARTING to change with #metoo—and now with the Kavanaugh hearings—I feel like we're at the cusp of a very real shift in the way society approaches what is normal and acceptable for courtship, was is normal and acceptable for workplace behavior, and what is normal and acceptable behavior for acquaintances and strangers. We are having a real moment for women's rights and I'm beyond thrilled that men are finally starting to understand the depth and universality of this horrible reality.

Thanks for your post! - Danielle

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/TwoXChromosomes/comments/9kzs2s/id_like_to_leave_this_here_how_to_protect

[buckyspetpsychopath]

Sick Bibby

Words: Reece Bibby x reader New Hope Club

I hadn’t seen my boyfriend in quite a while , it seems as though he had been avoiding me the past few days, so I decide to call him up. It goes to voicemail and I frown, sending him a quick text. 

-Hey I rang you?  -Yeah sorry, I’m just busy getting ready. We’re going out for a meal, for Lexi’s birthday -oh ok, have fun! I’ll be over on her actual birthday to give her, her presents and stuff, I just miss you :( 

I send back and frown, that’s a little bit strange that he didn’t invite me, we always go to special occasions with each other. I also frown when I don’t get a response from him. I sigh and decide to go to McDonald’s to pick up some food. I order and go wait until it’s ready. When my number is called I get my food and go to leave, but somebody shouts my name. I look around and smile when I see Lyndsey and Lexi. I go over to them and exchange hugs then Lexi moves over excitedly.  “come eat with us” she chirps so I nod and slide in next to her. 

“I thought you we’re going for a meal?” I say to Lyndsey and she furrows her eyebrows.  “we’re going on Saturday? Reece didn’t tell you?” she asks and I shake my head.  “No he said tonight, because I was going to come over but he said he’s busy” I explain.  “No, Reece is in bed, hes not well. Been stuck in bed for the past few days, we were actually wondering why you hadn’t come over, you two are usually glued at the hip, young love I guess” she smirks and I blush.  “He didn’t tell me, he kept saying he was busy, I was beginning to think he didn’t want to be with me anymore or something” I frown.  “No way, he’s just ill. He probably just doesn’t want you to get sick” she suggests and I nod. I stay silent just thinking about it for a moment. “do you want to stay over tonight? You have clothes in our house don’t you?” Lyndsey pipes up and I nod.  “thank you.” I say and she smiles.   “yay! Sleepover with y/n” Lexi cheers and we both laugh. Once we’re finished eating we head back to Reece’s house, I send my mum a quick text to tell her I’m staying over and she replies with a thumbs up. 

When we walk into Reeces house Lexi runs straight upstairs yelling “Reece! yn’s come for a sleepover”. Jamie comes out of the kitchen and gives me a hug, pecking my cheek.  “Hey, how are you?” he asks.  “I’m fine, how are you?” I reply.  “I’m all good”  “Y/n?”I head Reece mutter and turn to him. He’s standing halfway up the stairs, bags under his eyes, his hair flopped down onto his forehead. “what are you doing here?”  “well since you lied to me… I saw your mum and Lex in McDonalds, your mum invited me back. Why didn’t you tell me you were sick I would have came right over, you know that. Instead of avoiding me for a week.” i huff. Reece takes my hand and takes me upstairs.  “I know you’d come right over that’s why I lied. I didn’t want you to see me like this” he mumbles. I place my hand on his cheek.  “like what?” I giggle.  “All sweaty and disgusting, gross and ugly…” he pouts.  “oh baby, even when you’re sick you’re the most handsome boy Ive ever seen and I’ve got to say you look quite cute, you should wear your hair down more often” I say and lean in for a kiss but his eyes widen and he moves away.  “No! You’lll get sick too”  “I don’t care, we can be sick together. I haven’t kissed you in a week” I say and he waywardly brings his lips to mine. I close my eyes and lean into his touch. Despite his previous concern, he cups my cheek and the kiss gets quite heated, slippiing his tongue in. We’re making out in the middle of his room when his mum bursts in the door. 

“oh, wow, right, sorry” She apologises.  “mum” Reece groans.  “sorry, I wanted to make sure y/n had pjamas”  “yeah she can wear some of mine” he replies and Lyndsey nods.  “ok I get the hint, mother leaving. Keep it PG you two we don’t want any babies” she smirks.  “Mum” Reece gasps covering his face, I blush. She laughs loudly as she closes the door behind her. 

“do you-” Reece starts but breaks out into a coughing fit. My eyes widen and I push him down onto his bed, I reach for the bottom of his jumper and lift it up over his head. He smirks at me.  “Any other time this would be happening I’d be thrilled but …” he jokes and I roll my eyes.  “You’re sweating, you need to cool down. I’ll go get some ice cream.” I say and leave him laying in bed. I go downstairs and Lyndsey, Lexi and Jamie are watching a movie.  “sorry to disturb you but do you have any ice cream?” I ask and Lyndsey shakes her head.  “No hon, feeling peckish?” she asks.  “No, its for Reece, he’s overheating, I’ll just run the shop and pick him up some stuff” I say and she smiles. “Are you sure? I can go if you want” she offers.  “Its ok” I smile.  “Can I come?” Lexi chirps. I look and Lyndsey and she shrugs.  “If you stay with y/n and put your coat on I don’t see why not” Lexi cheers and jumps off the couch, running to get her coat on. I also put mine on.  “Do you guys want anything?” I ask and they tell me a couple of things they’d like- some sweets and drinks. Its only a short walk to tesco and we soon find ourselves at the sweet section, I pick up the sweets that the parentals requested and choose some for Reece and I. 

“What do you want Lex?” I ask her.  “What can I get?” she replies tilting her head at me.  “Anything you want, just not too much or you won’t sleep” I laugh. She picks up a packet of sweets and her favourite chocolate bar.  “You done?” I ask and she nods so we make our way to the drinks and pick out a couple. Then we head to the ice cream and I get two, one for Reece and I, one for the others. We pay for our items and get ready to leave the shop. 

“uggh, my feet are sore from walking” Lexi complains.  “Jump on” I say bending down, she grins and dives on my back, I hold her legs and stand up again walking towards the exit. We hear some squeals so we turn around. A small group of girls come over to us.  “Omg hi! You’re Reece Bibby’s girlfriend and sister right?” one of them asks, I nod.  “Is Reece with you?” another asks.  “No, unfortunately he’s at home in bed ill, we came to fetch his some supplies.” I laugh. They smile sadly. “Have you got Twitter or Insta, I could have him follow you?” I suggest and their eyes brighten. One rips a piece of paper from a small book in her bag and writes all the social medias down.  “Thank you so much! Could we get a picture?” they ask shyly. I smile.  “No its not a problem, you staying up there Lex” I tease and she nods with a little giggle. We ask an old couple to take our picture and then we part ways. We make our way home and when we walk in the door, Reece greets us. 

“hello?” I laugh.  “Where’ve you been?” he asks with a frown. I set Lexi on the floor and hand her the bag and she scurries into the living room to share out the sweets with her parents. I wrap my arms around his neck.  “the shop to get you some treats and medicine. What are you doing out of bed?”  “You didn’t come back and I wanted to cuddle” he pouts.  “awwh, poor Bibby” I joke pecking his nose. He continues to pout and hides his face in my neck.  “I feel so sick” he mumbles as I stroke through his sweaty hair. “You’re so needy when you’re ill” I smile and Lyndsey rounds the corner.  “tell me about it” she taunts and he narrows his eyes at her.  “You only brought my girlfriend here so you didn’t have to deal with me anymore” he argues back and she laughs.  “Thats exactly what I did” she smirks and retreats back into the living room. “You’re going to get sick though y/n, be warned” she calls out. I shrug and grab Reeces hands and the bag with our food in and go upstairs. We get set up in bed, watching a movie and eating the food. Halfway through the movie it had been abandoned when we started a little make out session, Reece pulls one of my legs over his body, forcing me to be flush against him, he runs his hands up and down my back. 

“I’m feeling a lot better with you here, thank you” he says when he pulls away. I smile and shrug.  “And you tried to avoid me” I say raising my eyebrow. He grins sheepishly and buries his head in my neck. We end up falling asleep. 

In the morning I wake up with Reeces arms wrapped tightly around my stomach. “Morning beautiful” Reece croakes, half hoarse from sleep and half from being I’ll. I sniffle and turn around to face him. “Morning handsome you feeling better?” I mutter. “A bit, but you’re sick too now” he pouts. “I don’t care as long as I get to spend all day cuddling you I really don’t mind, I really missed you the past couple of weeks, you were on tour then you can home and ignored me, I didn’t know if you still wanted to be with me” I frown. “Of course I still want to be with you, I just didn’t want to get you sick” “I know that now, but at the time. I’m sorry for even thinking like that” I admit. “You should be” He jokes. “Cause I’m not leaving any time soon” he chirps pecking my lips. “Knock knock” we hear Lyndsey murmur and knock on the door.  "You can come in mum" Reece calls out hoarsely. She comes in with a plate full of pancakes, nutella, bacon, orange juice, throat medicine and some tablets. “Thought you would both be needing this, were all going out now, are you two ok alone?” She asks. We nod. “You sure?” she hints, wiggling her eyebrows and i blush. “Mum just go” Reece whines. She tuts. “Uhm I mean thank you mamma, I love you very much” he smiles and she nods leaning down to peck his forehead then repeating the action on me.  “Have a nice day” I croak and she smiles sadly.  “You two get your rest, no horny teen stuff” she smirks before leaving. I groan and roll over onto Reece.  “You know its your own fault?” Reece points out.  “Was I supposed to just let you die in bed alone? No. Im your girlfriend I’m supposed to be here at times like this”  “Its just a cold or something” he laughs and I shrug.  “You’re still sick”  “and so are you” he points out. I cough and hold my chest as it hurts. “ohhh, my poor baby is feeling poorly” he jokes in a baby voice, wrapping his arms around you. I force a laugh then it goes silent. We both sit and start eating, quickly demolishing the food, still in silence. We go and brush our teeth then head straight back to bed. I get too hot and end up peeling Reeces jumper off me, I only have a bra on and his eyes rush straight to my boobs. I roll my eyes and push myself up slightly, throwing a leg over his body and leaning back on his legs, we connect our hands.  “You’re the most beautiful girl Ive ever seen” he says tightening his grip on my hand. I pull mine away and grasp his cheeks leaning down to kiss him. When I pull away he nudges his nose into mine and connect our foreheads. “I love you so much, thank you for coming to ‘try’ and get me better” he laughs.  “yeah, I didn’t do such a good job did I?” I snort.  “I’m just so irresistible” he jokes.  “You are” I say scrunching up his cheeks. He swats my hand away and grabs the back of my neck pulling my head into his neck.  “lets go back asleep” he mumbles and I nod, staying silent as we fall back asleep. 

[wristsofidleness]

(happy birthday!!)

I wanted to send you something aside from the chat, but messages are too short and sending it to you via facebook seemed weird so… here I am!

(obviously this is less than a submission and more of an “I needed a place where I could type a lot and it wouldn’t get lost in our chat”.)

First and foremost:

Happy Birthday, Jinali! 🎉🎉🎈

I’m really shit when it comes to writing birthday messages/expressing feelings, but I really really wanted to use this opportunity tell you how happy I am that we’ve met online.

You’re this friend that weirdly takes a long time to answer messages and yet is also always there when I’m “in need”. I don’t even have to ask, I might just make a post because sometimes life is shit and all of a sudden there’s a message from you or some words of encouragement that mean the world to me ♥

And you’ve recommended so many good things to me, like The Raven Cycle, Six of Crows and Buffy (which I have yet to finish THOUGH NETFLIX REMOVED IT). I can’t imagine my life now without The Raven Boys (hello, my url) and not only did you recommend this to me, but you also read all my silly/stupid/senseless rants and feelings while I was reading/watching them.

The other day I saw a post that said that online friendships at first are weird because conversations consisted mostly of “hi”, “hi”, “how are you?” “great and you” “very well, thank you” and ended there and not only did I ever feel that it went like that with us back then*, but it’s been two years and we still have loads of things to talk about. At least for me, it’s never been weird. 

*(also, I’m 80% sure I’ve already told you this but just in case I haven’t I’ll say it again: I think we started properly talking (exchanging actual messages?) somewhere around my 23rd birthday. I don’t know exactly H O W, but I remember it had something to do with me posting something about my birthday, you commenting something about “oh, I didn’t know it was your birthday” and some message that I’m guessing you sent me because it’s not in my inbox (or I sent it and my inbox deleted it), and boom! we were friends. It was fast in a (nice) way because what I remember from that time is that we just started talking and went on and on and on and for me there was never some awkward phase of “mmm… I don’t know what else to say/how to respond to this” and until today it still feels this way *hopes I’m not jinxing it*. Anyway, what I think I’ve already told you is this: back then, I had been thinking a lot about sending you a message that basically went something like “you tag me on stuff, like my posts, I like your posts and you seem like a really cool girl, wanna be friends?” but obviously better written and with actual arguments. I never got around to send it, though, because we started talking, but you were weeks away from receiving a message like that. You just seemed so cool and I wanted to be your friend.)

(Speaking of old messages, I’ve just found that you also encouraged me to buy The Cuckoo’s Calling, so add that to the list of awesome things that happened in my life because of you. Isn’t it weird that I’ve never seen you in real life and yet you’ve had a visible impact in my life?

Also, in one of those late-2015 messages you said to me, when I asked you if I could follow you on instagram, “n yes OF COURSE! ill follow you back. insta, twitter, facebook, goodreads, whichever you want.” like WAIT ANOTHER YEAR AND WE’LL BE MESSAGING IN EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE WEBSITES)

I think I’m doing this with you right now because I like showing affection to my real-life friends (by hugging them, buying them some small present that I know they’ll enjoy, going places, making plans, etc), but you’re an online friend and I don’t have the chance to do any of those things. And it’s your birthday now, so isn’t it the perfect day to tell you how happy I am to have you in my life? 

So this long, endless, completely incoherent mess of a message is my way of telling you thank you for being my friend and being around all these years. I’m glad we started talking and I’m glad we’re still friends and haven’t drifted apart and I’m so happy to have a friend with whom I share so many things and fandoms in common ♥

You’re the best. Happy birthday, Jinali! Eat lots of cake, spend time with the people you love, and I hope this new year is full of love and good things! 💜💜🎂🎊🎉🎉🎊🎈

(PS: I hope I’m doing this whole submission thing ok. I think you have to approve it, and thus see it, and it doesn’t post it automatically. No, I checked on my blog and it should appear as a message, this is not a message sadly)

szkjfhkshfksfk Selene, listen thank you doesnt even begin to cover it. first off, you’re an angel for tolerating my bad replying habits. Ive been particularly bad about it this year. I know 🙈*hides in a corner*  thsi has been a frustrating year, not gonna lie, but you’ve been incredibly kind and thank you for not only listening to my rants but being so understanding. its helped me more than you realise 💖 

also i still cant believe that i actually have a friend with exactly the same taste as me. so thank YOU for fangirling and loving it all as much as I do so im not just shouting into the void anymore. 

Ive talked to quite a few people on here but i was never comfortable enough to actually tag them in posts or even dare to strike up a conversation out of the blue but you always seemed so approachable and i guess that speaks to the kind of vibe you gave out 😊 wait im pretty sure i can track down the post that got us talking so im gonna send you a link. also im so grateful to my weird 18 year old self who thought it was perfectly normal to thank someone for being their 100th follower back in 2012 😂

I still can’t understand how we havent run out of topics to talk about by now. I cant believe there’s not a single website where we dont have an ongoing conversation. I cant believe we didnt even spare goodreads ffs 😂 

just.. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for everything. I love you and I hope that even as we change and grow, we never drift apart 😙

[flyingthecoup]

Yes. I’m going there.

Get an Instagram account and never stop looking at women and men that look better than you and are doing better in their lives than you are.

Forget that social media rarely ever show the full picture, and you only see what they want to you to see.

Start buying all of the makeup brands that they endorse or front and fail miserably trying to contour and highlight and whatever they tell you to do in those one-minute videos

Give up on Insta and start a Pinterest.

Incessantly pin ‘How-To’s’ and ‘Make Your Own’ that amount to ridiculous amounts of money being spent on mason jars and Wasi-tape then utterly fail at those ‘easy’ DIY projects…

 Then ask randos on the Internet what they think about how you look and act through Twitter, Reddit and YouTube and any other Internet based chat room.

Develop a self-deprecating outlook when those randos say you look ugly or slutty because they stay online everyday with you.

Give up and try a new aesthetic that’s sustainable.

Aesthetics are hard. They require so much effort that at times it seems like it’s not worth the time because most of us are messy and lazy. However, we need to be honest with ourselves: whether we’d like to admit it or not, the way we present ourselves to the world is the way we will be treated. Do you want to be treated like a businesswoman? A feminist? Non-binary? When it comes to our own upkeep, and one of the facets of personal self-esteem is a personalized aesthetic.

What is an aesthetic? It used to be a bougie word used to describe a visual scene that was typical of a certain culture, region, or place that had distinct color swatches, furniture, paintings, and so on and so forth. But now it’s basic girl vocab for like, your personal style. Why we needed to make personal style sound more bougie, I will never know but for now, it’s really big on most visual social media, as aesthetic not only describes the makeup of your house, or place of living but also to an extent your personal clothing style and personality.

And for girls, that means Kardashians, pastel filters, duck face and ughhhhh the dreaded motivational quotes on landscape images. Ugh, those are the stuff of nightmares. Quotes from aesthetics like “I have missed classes because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to wear.” are the reason why more tomboyish and just plain lazy girls like me avoid making a signature style. Most definitely, but they have started to lack in their individuality because of how over saturated they’ve become in media. Don’t get me wrong, they’re cute. Having a personal style is integral to having an identity:

Whatever your flavor, figuring it out can be difficult in your first couple of years of college. Believe me, I’m still trying to figure out my own style.

Questions to Ask before you begin

Who are you, personally? Too deep, too fast too soon? Then…

What’s important to you? What’s the most important thing you’re looking forward to in this stage of your life? Take for example college; are you there for the academics or for the guys?

What do you think compliments the most important thing right now? An organized planner, a cute and flirty manner, a calm demeanor?

How will you present this important detail in your life to other people?

After the questions….

Style Journal

Ex. Good-girl Tomboy

I am a college student who’s studious and likes the quiet. I came to Wellesley for its academics point-blank. Although it’s beautiful scenery and the generous financial package had something to do with it, I’m in college to get a degree and then head off to medical school.

That means precision, time management, and cutthroat to the point attitude. But something also important to me is looking like my parents’ daughter; you know the church girl that always has a positive testimony to present, even when everyone else’s life is falling apart? I’m that girl. Sadly.

But even with those clear goody-two shoe characteristics I have, I am lazy af. Maybe that’s because I have traditionally boyish tastes; I like superheroes and comics, sci-fi and science. I like calculation. I like my sweats more than my dresses, and makeup for me consists of chapstick and mascara if I’m lucky. I’m frugal, and it shows in my makeup collection.

The only place it skips a beat is my family and my hair. Although I’ve been natural for quite some time, it’s only recently that I’ve begun learning how to treat and care for my hair outside of protective styles. It’s been challenging, but I love it. Inspirations: Ella Fitzgerald, Strategos Six, The Natural Hair Movement

The Baes of my Aesthetic

Color Scheme: Navies, black, white, transparent and clear, dashes of monochrome color here and there.

A messy mind, a messy room.

Accents: Mason jars from Dollar Tree, post-its stolen from your dad’s office, thrift shop goods from sustainability sales and Primark, the cheapest basic girl store on the planet. I only get staples, denim jackets.

    Developing a College Aesthetic, the Basic Girl Way Yes. I'm going there.

[superstringstudio]

Mottos, Mantras and Mission Statements; 4 Steps to Branding Your Studio

Recently I’ve put a lot of thought into how I want my studio to be perceived by others. I’ve asked myself: What are the attributes that make Superstring different to the slew of other indie devs? What values will unite all the games that are born out of my studio? What does Superstring stand for?

I can almost hear the gags and wretches – this subject matter unavoidably gets into quite guffy, saccharine territory. It sounds like a load of bollocks, doesn’t it? Not long ago I would have agreed and written anything like this off as pretentious busy-work – a fat waste of time.

In retrospect, that thinking was naïve. I’ve come to realise how important this positioning work can be in the long run; it’s a vital step that a lot of smaller developers and studios are overlooking.

Taking the time to properly position your studio/company will cement your creative vision – it will give the games that slowly fill your catalogue consistency and a stamp that is undeniably yours. It will help you hire likeminded folk, and – most importantly – it will allow you to shape what the masses think when they see your studio interacting in the wild. This work is easy to rush and difficult to nail, but it’s not expensive. Anybody can do this work. Everybody should do this work.  

I want to say up front, by the way: I am by no means an expert in the world of indie development - Superstring is still a very young studio, and yet to release its first game (Headspun is out later this summer, releasing on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC and Mac). I have A LOT to learn about development. I have, however, worked in the games industry for over a decade, with the past four years in a global brand role at an AAA publisher. Recently, I’ve been trying to leverage some of that big-publisher-thinking on a smaller scale.

Today I want to share that work here.  

In this first entry in the Superstring Journal (get updates here!) – a new monthly blog exploring various aspects of indie dev life – I wanted to walk through the four steps I’ve taken with Superstring in terms of building a brand for the studio. I’m not claiming Superstring is the best example of any of these steps, merely an example.

Note: in an ideal world, the below would be worked up alongside the birth of your studio. It should influence the name you choose, the icon you design, the language you use when communicating with the world. I’d imagine lots of people skip over all this and just get cracking developing their dream game – I know I did. Much of the below can be figured out at a later date, however – it just needs a step back, and some dedicated time to figure a few things out.

Ok, here we go!

1 | DEFINE YOUR STUDIO’S MISSION STATEMENT

This should be an easy place to start, but wrapping language around the aims of your studio/business is surprisingly tricky. “Because I want to” doesn’t cut it, sadly.

Your mission statement isn’t a slogan. It doesn’t need to be catchy or clever. It just needs to lay out what you’re trying to achieve. If you’re a tech company it will simply outline the solution that your product offers to a problem. As game developers, our mission statements are more likely to be rooted in the experience we’re looking to give to our players.  

Some examples:

Supergiant Games “We want to make games that spark your imagination like the games you played as a kid.”

Dropbox: “to unleash the world’s creative energy by designing a more enlightened way of working.”

Blizzard: “Dedicated to creating the most epic entertainment experiences...ever.”

Doublefine: “committed to making high-quality games with an emphasis on originality, story, characters, and fun​”

Giant Sparrow: “[to create] surreal experiences people have never had before. Our dream is to make the world a stranger, more interesting place.”

Superstring: “To bring narrative to unlikely places through genre hybrids and experimentation.”

Try not to skip this step, as it segues directly into the second.

2 | DEFINE YOUR STUDIO’S VALUES

Yeah, the second step is equally as vague and woolly as the first. Sorry. But again, it’ll unlock a lot if you can really nail this. Knowing the three values your studio stands for will help you to hire staff who share the same virtues, and thus develop games in accordance with a unified vision. It will help write your studio’s signature.  

It’s all too easy to rush this step and fart out a few quaint sounding words - but if they’re not reflective of traits you genuinely believe in, they’re meaningless. ‘Honesty’ might sound like a lovely value on paper, for example, but in an ideal world this would be true of all companies and brands. It’s hardly a virtue to shout from the rooftops, is it? “We don’t’ lie!” Brilliant. Even if this is, in actuality, less common than we know to be true, it’s just a bit shit and generic. Dig deeper.

In an effort to minimise ambiguous bollocks and show how these values can directly affect your ongoing work, I’ll share Superstring’s values alongside examples of how these values help in practice.

Superstring is:

T R A N S P A R E N T This might sound similar to ‘honest’ on paper, but it’s not. It’s about being actively open in all facets of development. It’s about sharing, and keeping very open channels of communication. In practice: transparency will inform the content we create and share outside of core development - hence this blog! It guides how we interact with other developers, and – hopefully – shapes our games, which will benefit from the outside perspective we otherwise lack as a small team. I think this is really important for small studios where you can easily end up working in a bubble. Transparency is a two way street.

G U T S Y There were several words I flirted with here – spirited, daring, adventurous – but they all relate to being bold. As Superstring is a one-man team, and a side project (I have a salary and full time job if things go pear-shaped), I’m happy to take risks. If an idea doesn’t pan out, nobody loses their jobs. Nobody goes without food or accommodation. In practice: Riskiness as a value means that experimentation is built into the studio’s DNA. Our games don’t need to be approved by a risk committee. We will actively pursue ideas that are more out there.

R E B E L L I O U S   This sounds try-hard, but I’ve always been keen to weave a little attitude into Superstring’s persona. I don’t want the studio to walk or talk like a traditional developer; I want it more in line with a band’s brand, for example. Specifically, I want to tap into the themes and visuals of the synthwave music scene – which I feel embodies this attitude nicely. In practice: rebellion as a core value gives nice constraints for visuals, tone of voice and language. This value has directly influenced the visual identity work I'll outline later.

3 | WRITE YOUR STUDIO MOTTO/TAGLINE

The first two steps involve language that – should you wish – need never be public. They’re the invisible tracks your studio will run along. Your motto (or tagline), however, is the slightly more succinct and catchy embodiment of the first two steps. It’s the language you’ll whack on your website and Twitter bios and whathaveyous. It should succintly convey what you’re all about.

Here’s what I landed on for Superstring (after many iterations…):

“(Superstring is) dedicated to abusing the boundaries of game genre.”

I like this because it a) reinforces my mission statement of experimenting with genre hybrids, and b) introduces a little hint of attitude. It sounds progressive – a little rebellious, even.

Note: With the motto complete, I’d also recommend building out a long and short description for your studio, too. There’s countless uses for these (website about page, press release boiler plates, etc etc) , and having a long and short versions prepared will save you a lot of time.

4 | DEVELOP YOUR VISUAL IDENTITY

With the first three steps nailed, you can start building the core assets that will reflect your aims. All that introspective ethereal rubbish can now be converted into some lovely eye-candy! This final step is a big, complex one, in truth; the extent to which you’ll be able to act on it may be limited by budget (it certainly is in my case – there’s plenty more I’d do with a bigger wallet), but there’s a lot you can do to bring your intention and values to the world.

A – by no means exhaustive – list:

L O G O What is your studio logo? How does it reflect your values? Does it reflect your tone of voice? Does it take advantage of accompanying iconography? Does it work in both black and white? How will it animate in video form?

P R O F I L E  P I C T U R E S What is your Twitter/FB/Insta/Discord/IndieDB profile image? Does it use your logo’s iconography? Is it still readable at a teeny-tiny resolution? Perhaps there’s no better representation of your studio than your own beautiful face.

K E Y  A R T I wouldn’t say your studio needs bespoke key art (unlike your game, which most certainly does), but it can help establish your values and convey what you’re all about. I was really keen to have something more than just a logo for social headers / website backgrounds etc.

C O L O U R  P A L E T T E   This will likely fall out of your key art & iconography – but having a defined colour palette will help tie everything together across the many platforms you’ll likely use. Continuity is key. Whenever I set up Superstring on a new service or social media, I ensure the colour themes are set to purples/blues/pinks; whatever is closest.  

F O N T What font or lettering are you adopting for studio communications? We all know how poor font choice can lead to wrong impressions...

O T H E R  S T Y L E  E L E M E N T S e.g. D O U B L E  S P A C I N G  I M P O R T A N T  T E X T //Branded bullets Signature Emojis

W E B S I T E How does your website bring together all of the above to perfectly convey the brand you've tried to cultivate? This is the one place you have complete control over, and it should accurately portray what you're all about.

Note: I see lots of developers leaning on imagery from one of their games in relation to the above. I think it’s important to separate your studio imagery from game imagery as soon as you’re able. Let your studio stand on its own legs and exist outside of individual game branding.

There’s a lot more to it than just this, of course. The language and tone of voice you adopt is also born out of all this positioning work, but there's enough to talk about here to dedicate a blog of its own. I won't go into it now.

I still think a lot of the above can feel pretentious and without substance, but going through the motions of each step honestly unlocks a lot. Give it a bash.

Thanks for reading – I hope somebody finds some use in this. I am more than happy to chat in more depth about any of the points here – come chat with me on Discord - and if you found this helpful, please do subscribe to the Superstring newsletter for the next dev journal.

Jamin