#as well as packing up the few things we have! Which honestly isn't much

[janebonbon]

Officially about 2 weeks before I move! I've been tied up from drawing making sure everything is taken care of as things go down to the wire! But I'm hoping to post some doodles I'm wanting to do in my down-time.

I'm very excited for this change, even if this change has had many ripples of changes in our personal life. Exhausting changes! I think I can speak for everyone when I say that everyone in the system is very tired! But the change is so worth it. Thank you to my dear patient followers! A bit of a sketch for you, as a treat. I'm happy to be settled back from moving very soon!

[gabbytheplatypus]

Lucky One

Jake Seresin sighed, rubbing his temples as he glanced at the clock. "I know this isn't the most thrilling topic right now, but could you all try to focus for the last fifteen minutes? I promise next week we’ll dive into the exciting bits of World War I." Stella, a friendly and hard-working student in the front row, shot a stern look at her chatty classmates, and the room fell into an awkward silence. A few students offered Jake apologetic smiles. He understood. It was Friday, the final period of the day, and everyone was itching to go home. Honestly, he was just as eager to head home, grab some snacks, and lose himself in an action movie.

Jake usually loved teaching, especially when his students asked clever questions or showed genuine curiosity. He thrived on finding creative ways to make history come alive for them. He once divided his students into two groups and each group had to think of a strategy on how they could defeat the other group if they were in command of their own military. It wasn’t exactly on the syllabus, but the result? His students were hooked, and their projects on World War I society had blown him away. He was incredibly proud of them, but unfortunately he no longer taught that specific class. He’d sometimes see his former students around town, always greeted with a smile and a "Hey, Mr. Seresin!"

He stood up and handed out papers. It was a dull topic, even by his standards, but it was part of the curriculum. He made a mental note to keep it as brief as possible. After five minutes of focused silence, the chatter started up again. Jake cleared his throat loudly. "You know, if what you're talking about is so interesting, maybe you’d like to share it with the whole class?" He grinned, aiming for playful rather than strict. His students at least had the decency to look sheepish before quieting down again. It was quiet for the remaining minutes of the lesson.

As the final bell rang and the students gathered their things and went to leave. Kate, Tyler, Javi and Lilly immediately started talking rather loudly again. Jake overheard a comment that made him pause. "I wish I had Mr. Machado instead of Mr. Bradshaw," Javi grumbled. "Scott’s so damn lucky to have him."

When they were halfway out the door, Jake couldn’t help but call after them, "Oh? What terrible crime has Mr. Bradshaw committed now?" He leaned back against his desk, arms crossed, an amused look on his face.

The group froze, turning to see if Jake was serious or just messing with them. His smirk gave it away, and Lilly groaned dramatically. "Isn’t it obvious? Mr. Bradshaw’s out to get us! The amount of homework he gives—it’s practically a declaration of war."

Jake let out a snort of laughter, his eyes gleaming with a mix of amusement and something else, something softer. "Well, he does take his subject very seriously."

"It's English. We speak English. Why isn't that enough?" Javi scoffed.

Kate gave Javi a light smack on the back of his head. "You’re just lazy," she muttered, though Jake caught the words and chuckled.

"Is he really that bad?" Jake asked, packing up his things but still focused on his students. Javi and Lilly nodded enthusiastically, while Tyler seemed distracted, sneaking glances at Kate. Jake made a mental note to pair those two up for the next group project, already excited for excellent results.

Kate frowned thoughtfully. "I wouldn’t say he’s bad. Just… exhausting."

Jake chuckled, leaning in slightly as if sharing a secret. "Well, from what I’ve seen, he’s pretty normal. Maybe you’re all just a little… sensitive?"

"You don’t know him like we do!" Javi insisted, throwing in his best puppy dog eyes, which Lilly mimicked with dramatic flair. Jake laughed, raising a skeptical eyebrow. Was Bradley really that intense? Sure, he knew Bradley could be demanding, but that was one of the things he admired most about him. The guy had passion—perhaps a little too much sometimes, but it was all with good intentions. He just wanted to prepare his students for the future and maybe he was a little overzealous, but in the end he definitely had a good heart and just wanted everyone to do their best.

"Oh yes? How is Mr. Bradshaw different with you than when I see him in the hallways?"

Javi huffed. "You’ve never had to sit through one of his 40-minute rants about some ancient book nobody cares about. And trust me, it wasn’t even a good one!"

Jake shook his head in mock shock. "The horror! And here I thought English class was supposed to be relaxing. What did he do to you this time to earn your complaints today?"

"We have to write an eight-page essay," Tyler finally chimed in, his voice heavy with resignation.

"On what?" Jake asked curiously and tilted his head.

"If only I knew," Javi exclaimed dramatically, throwing his arms into the air before letting them drop in defeat.

Jake bit back a laugh. "Should I have a word with Mr. Bradshaw? Maybe scold him for his rude behavior and tell him to ease up on our poor, overworked students?"

The four of them grinned, and Lilly nodded enthusiastically. "You’d be our hero, Mr. Seresin! You’re the best!"

Jake chuckled, waving them off. "Enjoy your weekend, guys. Try not to let all that homework ruin it."

As they left, Jake allowed himself a smirk. He was definitely going to tease Bradley about this later. For now, though, he had snacks to buy and a movie to enjoy.

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

"Tyler, let’s go to the mall!" Lilly suggested, linking arms with Javi as they walked out of school.

"I’m in," Javi agreed quickly.

Tyler shrugged, "Why not?"

"Kate, you coming?" Javi asked, and after some light convincing, Kate agreed to join them.

"Tyler’s buying ice cream for everyone," Kate teased, nudging him with her elbow. Tyler rolled his eyes but raised his hands in mock surrender, earning high-fives from Lilly and Javi

Kate and Tyler smiled briefly at each other and the group of friends set off. They strolled through the mall, chatting and laughing, when Kate suddenly stopped in her tracks, pointing ahead. "Hey, isn’t that Mr. Seresin?"

"Yeah, it is," Lilly said, grinning. "Let’s go say hi."

But as they got closer, Lilly’s greeting died in her throat. Mr. Seresin was leaning in, kissing the man whose hand he was holding.

"No way," Kate whispered, her eyes wide in shock as she recognized the other man. Javi’s jaw practically hit the floor. The man Jake was kissing wore a familiar ring—one they’d all seen a thousand times on Mr. Seresin’s hand in class. Could it be…?

"Is that… Mr. Bradshaw?!"

𝐷𝐸𝐷𝐼𝐶𝐴𝑇𝐸𝐷 𝑇𝑂 𝐷𝐼𝐴𝑁𝐴, 𝑀𝑌 𝐹𝐴𝑉𝑂𝑅𝐼𝑇𝐸 𝑇𝐸𝐴𝐶𝐻𝐸𝑅 𝑇𝑂 𝐺𝑂𝑆𝑆𝐼𝑃 𝑊𝐼𝑇𝐻 <3

[not-another-robin]

What do you think are the justice league member's favorite snacks/meals they like to cook/eat?

Dear anon, I am so glad you asked. Allow me to explain

J'onn - literally everyone is concerned. J'onn eats stuff that's not food just because he can. He will snack on drywall. He eats bugs off of leaves. The actual food he eats isn't much better - his diet consists almost entirely off of processed sugar. Obviously chocos/oreos, but also just the kind of things a seven year old would pack for lunch. Twinkies, sugary cereal, actual candy, donuts, popcorn, chips, etc. He tries, half-heartedly, to insist that Martians nutritional needs are different than humans, but there is literally no evidence to suggest that. Someone in the JL takes him out to eat/brings him food almost every day to make sure he doesn't die.

Wally - only marginally better than J'onn in that he won't eat chalk unprompted. We all know speedsters, they need a lot of food to keep up with their metabolism and energy, but Wally is especially ludicrous in the "will eat anything" category. He will put anything and everything in the fridge into a sandwich, which sounds like a fun thing to ask about, but eventually everyone realizes they just don't wanna know. Also a connoisseur of wild food combos ("icing in chili??" "Hey don't knock it til you try it")

Shayera - A little bit more normal but the bar is in hell so that doesn't mean much. She will try anything at least once, especially on a dare. She also just has an insane pallete for space food. Meals on thanagar were really just anything slightly edible thrown into a trough, so anything that's cooked is fine dining. Also sometimes things that aren't cooked. Raw chicken is one of her favorite snacks - She likes to chew on (and eventually eat) the bones

Bruce - now we're reaching slightly normal human foods, but that doesn't mean Bruce's diet is normal. Honestly, he's just autismcore with a splash of "do rich people really eat that?". His schedule is so fucked he rarely ever has time for an actual meal, so mostly he eats what he can when he can. I have fully adopted the fandom canon that he eats shredded cheese right out of the bag. When he does eat a real meal, it's part of a carefully crafted food schedule developed over decades. He essentially has 31 meals, one for every day - a good mix of recognizable foods and "some guy I traveled the Amazon with made this for me in 1986".

Diana - we have now reached the "can cook" section. One caveat for Diana though, she has no idea how kitchen appliances work. If the oven isn't made of stone she may set something on fire. She's used to the best Themyscira has to offer, lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and elaborate feasts. She can't really manage a feast in her apartment, but she knows a good few meals, she eats well. However, she's often too busy to make her own food, so it's like 60% take out.

Clark - this boy eats three square meals a day no matter WHAT. If you sleepover with Clark there will be pancakes and eggs on the table by the time you wake up. He's just a big country boy, his ma taught him well and he uses it. He cooks for himself pretty much every day, the only exception being occasionally going out for lunch during work or picking up a hot dog from a cart (he loves them, no one can understand why).

John - John is your uncle that got really into meal prep. He is religious about his food intake, he only eats the best and has every meal scheduled like a month in advance. He picked up a few recipes from his mom, but he really just picked up a passion for cooking well at some point just to challenge himself. He also eats really healthy, he's known to occasionally go on some weird keto diet that everyone makes fun of him for. He's the kind of person who eats overnight oats. He lectures Wally about his eating habits daily.

So. That was a ridiculous amount thought and effort for a simple headcanon question. This is what they inside of my brain looks like 24/7 thanks got asking <3

[essektheylyss]

I know you said you need to stop screaming first but I am EAGERLY awaiting your thoughts on Essek in the teaser

OKAY OKAY HERE GOES.

The thing is, there's no real reason to include him.

Yes, he's very popular, but he has never historically been included as a default, validly! He occupies a very interesting space mechanically and narratively, but he is still not a PC. Yes, he's part of the Mighty Nein as a group, per canon, but not until the end, which in theory would be well beyond the first season, and so is Cad, who is not present in this teaser—presumably to preserve the mystery around [INSERT MAJOR SPOILER WARNING HERE].

I would imagine that Cad is not present because having Taliesin's voice twice is too much of a tipoff for anyone watching LoVM but not the campaigns, whereas simply having Matt voice someone is not.

HOWEVER.

There are a decent number of lines that you could choose for Essek that are about the Nein—personally, my favorite, that I've thought previously would make a really stellar trailer line, is from 124: "You certainly carve a unique destiny, don't you?" Everything down to the way Matt delivers it (which you can see here) would make it a really viable option.

But the line they went with isn't about the Nein—it's very much a line about Essek himself. "I want to unlock these mysteries. I want to dive as deep as I can into that ocean of the unknown and see what is possible." It's a line that is very specific to Essek and his actions and goals, even beyond his involvement with the Nein.

And it's placed in the middle of the pack, which frames him on the same level as the rest of the Nein! Someone who is not familiar with the campaign would hear that as simply another protagonist. But of course, he's not—unless there is some serious restructuring (more even than the restructuring present in LoVM, which, aside from introducing a few of the initial less plot-bearing aspects later, like the Slayer's Take, it's thus far structured in order), he won't come into the show for quite some time, and almost certainly not in the first season.

But we don't really have any idea how this show will be structured. There are different comments on the beginning from different sources; notably, Gizmodo mentions Calianna being present in some way initially, while no one else does. The logline most outlets are reporting revolves the Nein "prevent[ing] the kingdom from plunging into chaos when an arcane artifact capable of reshaping reality falls into the wrong hands," presumably the beacon (my beloved).

So it makes sense to mention Essek, for, you know, the obvious reasons, as comment on the beacon itself. (I'm going to guess they're simplifying it to one beacon, per the press release, for ease lol.) But this line, while about dunamancy as a whole and the powers of the beacon, is not about it directly. It's still about Essek's interest in it. It is an excellent line, and on its face, it has nothing to do with the Nein or the plot of the first fifty episodes of the campaign.

There's plenty of speculation to be done about how this might be structured, and I'm sure I'll do plenty of it because, let's be honest, I do not shut up about adaptation and translating stories between formats, it is one of my absolute favorite subjects, and this is the Nein, babey!!!

So my point here being: I think there is a lot of room with the nature of Wildemount politics to get a little wild with structure in the translation from D&D game to TV show that, while not impossible in LoVM, wouldn't really have added anything to the story, and honestly, might've taken away from it. Because the point is to watch Vox Machina become the big damn heroes! We do see tidbits of Brimscythe and the Briarwoods beyond the purview of the heroes, but mostly in ways that feel very '80s cartoon villain cameo' which fits the feel of the show perfectly.

But there are a lot of political players and forces in Wildemount that the Nein navigate whether they're aware of them or not, one of whom of course becomes a member of their party, and that's part of what makes their story so interesting. The Nein are the heroes that no one knows, who are always playing within and against the system and are hyper aware of that, and I think expanding how much of that we get to see now that the format allows for it (not necessarily a lot, not to the point of adding whole plotlines, but at least some of it) would only add to the tension and stakes, and Essek's presence in the trailer makes me wonder if they will.

[hatredmadeofgold]

Your fanfic pushed me to set up a trip to Prague. I'm going soon, and I'm really excited.

Hey anon! Honestly this blew my mind when I found your message in my inbox last night because I didn't expect someone to actually get so interested in travelling to Prague from just reading Sing to Me but omg I hope you're having tons of fun there!

I sat down and made you a list on google maps for all the locations mentioned in Chapter 5 and 6 together with notes where what exactly happened + some locations from the Eastern Europe Chapter of MGS4, in case you want to check these places out yourself.

I do recommend walking or taking public transport instead of a taxi or car to explore the city, Prague is extremely walkable and all these locations are within walking distance from each other. Yes, I walked to all of them when I first went back in 2021, but for someone who isn't used to walking much it might be a little more. Luckily I was in Prague as well back in March this year together with @cyborgdumptruck and took tons of photos and videos for the revisions of those chapters that I still got on my to do list and I thought I could share some with you :]

From left to right:

Náměstí Míru Metro station (Line A)

Bazilika sv. Ludmily at Náměstí Míru (Peace Square) that Sam wanted to take a photo of but Raiden didn't let him, saying that they weren't in Prague for sightseeing

Arkada Hotel, the hotel that they were staying at which is just a few hundred meters walking distance away from the square

I didn't mention the exact location of the restaurant that Sam ordered himself some dinner while Raiden just waited impatiently for him to finish eating, but I imagined it being somewhere near Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square) where you can also find the famous Pražský orloj (Astronomical Clock). The restaurant in that scene I made up because honestly the area is a very popular tourist spot and therefore the prices are ridiculous compared to other places in Prague where you could get something to eat. This is also why I wrote in the current version of Chapter 5 that it's a less busy street near the square and not directly at it, but it's also a point that I have on my revision list of things that will be changed about the chapter. They definitely walked through this place though, and Raiden gets annoyed at Sam wanting to take photos of the area since it's overall a nice spot with beautiful old buildings that even have hand painted walls.

Popular tourist spot aside, it's absolutely possible to get good photos and videos of the clock and the area overall and we were there during warm weather on a sunny day around Easter, so it was quite packed with people already.

Karlův most (Charles Bridge) with Pražský hrad (Prague Castle) in the background. Raiden took Sam across this bridge to show him around the Malá Strana (Lesser Town) district, but then started to heavily dissociate on their way there and began 'acting strange' in Sam's eyes.

This is, by the way, also close to the location where Liquid Ocelot massacred all the joint army-marines unit trying to stop him at the end of the Eastern Europe Chapter in MGS4, and also where EVA (Big Mama) died.

Maybe you'll get an idea now why Raiden might have dissociated so heavily when they crossed the bridge, although he wasn't present at those events... it's not because of those, but they're connected (¬‿¬)

This is Kellyxír! (Maps Link) The bar that Raiden dragged Sam into, and then got shitfaced right in front of him. I also took Sam's diary with me that I got last year to take a photo for the @mgsr-sing-to-me blog that ended up becoming a GIF instead (I love the Live Photo function of iPhones ngl). I had also ordered the same drink that Raiden had, The Breath of Uroboros, the Dragon (costs 333 Kč which would be around 14 USD). Sadly I had to crop the video because I am not comfortable sharing my face on Tumblr for now.

I have to say that in the revision of Chapter 5, I'll try to make that scene a little more elegant than it currently is.

On their way back to the hotel, Raiden nearly pukes on Sam from having absolutely overdone it with alcohol at the bar. I imagined this happening when they just reached Malostranské náměstí where they could take a tram back to Náměstí Míru to get back to the hotel.

Fun fact, when I was checking the locations that I mentioned in my fic, we coincidentally found the church in which Solid Snake (Old Snake) met EVA (Big Mama) in MGS4 and it's literally around the corner to Malostranské náměstí. And yes I am pretty sure that it was that exact church given the photos on Maps showing the insides of it. Unfortunately we didn't manage to go inside due to it only being open for visitors for an hour per day.

This is a really funny coincidence if you ask me, I was in tears when I noticed it 😂

The agreed rendezvous point with their client Tomáš Růžička in Chapter 6 is the Bazilika svatého Petra a Pavla located inside the Vyšehrad fortress. Getting up there takes a little while, especially when you're getting there from the Vyšehrad Metro Station (Line C), you'll be walking at least 20 minutes when you aren't familiar with the area 😅 But it is a really nice walk! Also there is a beer garden (Na Hrádbach) at the fortress where you can get something to eat and drink without paying tons of money. Just please take cash in CZK with you just in case, I am very unsure if they let you pay with card.

Lastly, here are some photos of Magistrát hlavního města Prahy (Prague City Hall). Sadly the building had construction work done when we went back in March, so those aren't the prettiest pictures. I will change the scene in revision of Chapter 6 where they get here because I am not really happy with it ಠ╭╮ಠ Getting to the place though helped a lot with making decisions for what exactly will be changed.

Anyway, hope you're having tons of fun in Prague and thank you so much for letting me know that you're reading my fic and got inspired to travelling there because of it. It really made my day :3

[paperyowl]

Gentlemen Don't Kiss and Tell (Sterek Ficlet)

So, I think I'm still telling myself that my current obsession isn't Teen Wolf, of all things. I might be delusional.

Can be read on ao3 here.

***

Scott made Isaac go with him for the refill of drinks and snacks. Derek took one look at their retreating backs, slipped out from behind Stiles, and got up without much of a comment. Lydia shrugged and called a toilet break.

That left Allison and Stiles as the only two - coincidentally human - pack members holding up the fort, which was rather fitting because the sheer number of pillows and blankets on the floor of Derek's loft could certainly make up a pillow fort. Stiles was half tempted to make the suggestion, or even just a joke about it, just to see Derek's face.

But then again, Derek had agreed to half them all come over for a pack night, and that had taken quite a bit of convincing. Maybe Stiles shouldn't tease him too much, at least for tonight. He took a last sip of his non-alcoholic-Derek-it's-fine drink and settled into the warmth that the sourwolf had left behind.

"So, uhm," Allison said in silence, and when Stiles looked over at her, it almost seemed like she was blushing. Well, this would be interesting. Or terrifying. Those tended to overlap a lot these days, seriously.

"I'm worried where this is going," Stiles told her, and when she gave him a stern look, he added: "Go on, go on."

Stiles certainly could not point any fingers regarding the broaching of odd or embarrassing topics. His brain-to-mouth filter was not actually as nonexistent as he liked to pretend it was, but it was far too funny to catch his friends off guard to stop.

"You and Derek," Allison eventually prompted. "You..."

She made a rather crude hand movement that had Stiles snort. So this was what her line of questioning was about. Oh, well.

"We fuck, yes," he said candidly. "But listen. If this is a sex question, you really shouldn't ask me. Especially because I don't want to know what you and Scott are up to."

Stiles made an exaggerated gagging noise and snatched another pillow to settle in more comfortably against the rather hard edge of the couch table they had pushed back a little. Ow. What was taking them all so long?

Allison raised her eyebrows at him, clearly unimpressed with his attitude.

"Thanks," she said a little sourly.

"You're most welcome," Stiles told her. "And now, quickly ask whatever you're about to ask before I change my mind."

She didn't quite huff at that comment and appeared to choose her words very carefully before she spoke again.

"Does werewolf anatomy... change things?" Allison asked, and for a long moment, Stiles's mind blanked because he didn't even understand the question entirely. His mind latched onto something else instead.

"Wait, does that mean you haven't-"

"I thought you didn't want to know?"

"Not in specific terms!"

"We haven't. You guys have, now, back to my question," Allison quickly summarized the whole situation. Her patience was running thin.

It was then that Stiles caught up.

"Are you asking me if Derek has a knot ?"

Allison blushed a furious red and spluttered. It was so unlike her that Stiles couldn't help the gasping laughter that had him struggle to breathe. It was perhaps a little mean, but he honestly didn't mean to.

"Oh god," he hiccuped and really wanted to stop laughing, but he really couldn't.

"What so funny?" Scott asked with a curious look as he reappeared behind Allison. To her credit, she didn't even jump at his sudden appearance. It took a while to get used to these werewolves, but you eventually just did.

"Nothing really," Allison said, delivering it with enough of an eye roll to be believable. As they settled back down, Stiles slowly calmed himself. It helped that Derek finally grabbed him by the back of his neck when Stiles drew in a few breaths rather painfully, dragged him into his chest, and told him, "Breath, you're making yourself sick."

There was more laughter for the rest of the night, but eventually, it got so late that Derek didn't even have to play the 'I might not be the alpha, but I can definitely still throw you out' card.

After their friends had left and Stiles had taken a quick shower, he settled on the bed and scrolled through a few notifications on his phone. The bed dipped when Derek joined him, seemingly satisfied with the state of the loft.

"So," Derek prompted when Stiles looked up. "What was that about earlier?"

Stiles grinned and then leaned in close for a kiss that Derek quickly yielded for. They kept trading kisses that weren't really meant to led anywhere. It was kind of sweet to just cosy up together like this.

Derek let himself be manoeuvred to sit more firmly on the bed when Stiles pushed a little at him and finally straddled his thighs. After they parted, Derek gave him a considering look. And an eyebrow, of course, there was that raised eyebrow.

"Was it that kind of question then?" he asked, and Stiles couldn't help but run a thumb over his blood-flushed lower lip. He almost started laughing again when he thought about Allison's face.

"She wanted to know if your dick has a knot," Stiles told him with a shrug and watched Derek's lips drag up in a grin. He shook his head a little.

"And what did you tell her?"

Stiles shrugged. "Well, you know, the literature says that it's not a concern for anyone who isn't born a wolf-"

Derek directed him back into a kiss with a hand at the side of his neck and shut Stiles up very effectively.

[lythea-creation]

Expectations - Shams x fem reader (Chapter 3)

Chapter 1

Previous Chapter

warnings: emotional abuse

word count: 997

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

After almost two weeks I could not take it anymore. Studying the whole day without really getting any breaks. Forcing on a smile for the sake of my great image that did not even exist if I asked my own dad. Being socially isolated from the people I truly cared about.

Shams had shown up at my house one day, trying to get my dad to let her study with me. She had resonated with him, had agreed to work together with the tutor. But he had sent her away.

I had only gotten to see her because I had secretly watched them.

I barely got to talk to Shams as we still had rehearsal in the breaks or my classmates were bombarding me with questions about my absence from social media. I claimed it to be a cleanse, a simple break to return stronger.

But nothing about all of this was strong. I was too weak to stand up for myself, may it be society or my dad. Basically I only existed in the safety of Shams' and Omar's house.

If my dad found out how flawed I actually was he would probably disown me. My true self simply was not good enough, not for him anyway.

Today I refused to study.

My tutor was overwhelmed by my behavior as I rested my head on the table, not responding to him in any way.

I was tired. There was too much weight wearing me down. The expectations were too high.

“What is going on here?”, my dad exclaimed when he entered the kitchen where we were supposed to handle my studying.

I could feel his anger radiating off of him. Nevertheless I stayed frozen in place, not even bothering to look at him.

“What do you think you're doing?”, he questioned, grabbing my shoulder.

As I was showing no reaction to him he pulled me up by my arm.

“I'm done”, I muttered.

“What did you just say?”, he hissed.

“I can't live like this anymore”, I proposed.

He burst out laughing. “You can't live like this anymore? Like what, (f/n)? A damn princess? You have everything you could ever need. Believing your social media accounts there are thousands of people who admire to have what you do, who want to switch with you. All I'm asking for you to do is your job, which is your school work. That's honestly not a lot to request for everything you get in exchange.”

“Keep it then”, I encouraged him. “Keep all the expensive clothes, the fancy furniture, my high-tech phone. I don't care! Just stop locking me away and treating me like a prisoner! This place isn't a home. Do you even love me at all?”

“After everything I've done for you you're talking to me like that?! Do you know what I gave up to raise you on my own? Do you have any idea how hard it is to be reminded of the death of the love of your life, every time you take a look at your child? It's suffocating”, he declared.

“Why bother then? You don't need to raise me anymore. I'm done with this”, I shot back and stormed to my room.

I quickly packed up a few things and then went back downstairs.

“Where do you think you're going?”, my dad questioned, blocking my way.

“Away”, I remarked.

“No, you're not”, he proclaimed, grabbing my shoulders when I tried to move around him.

“Don't touch me”, I growled, sending him a death glare.

He looked shocked at my reaction. I was, too. After all I had never treated him like that.

But that was exactly my luck because it led him to follow my demand.

My destination was obvious, but there was not any other place for me to go.

When Omar opened the door for me, he was dumbfounded. After all he had not seen me for about two weeks, which was the longest we had ever been apart except for going on vacation. Although we had a habit of going on vacation together as well.

“Hey”, I greeted him. “Sorry for showing up out of the blue. Can I come in?”

“(f/n), what happened?”, he worried.

It was rare for me to see him so serious. We were joking around most of the time after all.

For once Shams was wearing the same expression her brother did, standing a few steps behind him.

“I kinda ran away from home”, I admitted. “I know it's stupid and childish. But it was all too much and ...”

Omar interrupted me by pulling me into his arms. “You can stay as long as you want”, he promised. “Come on in. Shams, you should make your girlfriend a cup of tea.”

To my surprise there was no snarky remark coming from her. She returned two minutes later with a cup of my favorite tea.

“Thanks.” I shot her a small smile.

I noticed that she was feeling conflicted that I was resting in Omar's arms instead of hers. But she did not complain and instead sat down on my other side.

“What did he do?”, Shams wondered.

Omar sent her a scolding glare for addressing the topic so bluntly.

“I was just so tired”, I stated apathetically. “I missed you two.”

“We missed you, too”, Omar confessed. “Have you eaten dinner yet?”

“No. I hadn't earned it yet. I refused to study”, I enlightened them.

“How about ordering your favorite pizza?”, he suggested.

“Sounds great”, I agreed.

We ended up watching my favorite movie and eating pizza together in the living room. With both of them at my side I started to feel like myself again.

I did not make it to the end of the movie though as I fell asleep on the couch, cuddling with my favorite sibling duo.

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

Next Chapter

So what do you think about the chapter? Let me know in the comments or asks! Any suggestions for the next chapter?

Tag List: @sunwoniie

[practically-an-x-man]

Which canon character does your OC respect a lot?

Does your OC have a crush on anyone?

Who has your OC made cry?

Who does your OC love? (platonic)

Does your OC love anyone? (romantic)

Did your OC bear witness to anyone’s full character arc?

Is there anyone who your OC would die for?

For Spider and Quinn

Thank you so much!!

Fandom OC Ask Meme

Which canon character does your OC respect a lot?

Spider: There are only like 2 other main characters in the movie but here we go- Sam (Lupita Nyong'o's character), for sure. She's going through all this with a terminal disease, in a lot of pain at every given moment, and he's got a lot of respect for how she still holds herself up through that.

Quinn: She's actually got a lot of respect for Five, and it's the only reason she's managed to stick through physical therapy so consistently with her. Five can be friendly, but she also doesn't take any bullshit from anyone (including Quinn), and that's exactly the kind of person Quinn respects. Yes, please, call her out when she's being an asshole! At least you've got the guts to be honest!

Does your OC have a crush on anyone?

Spider: I mean, they're all a little too focused on the impending doom and destruction of society to be thinking about that sort of thing, but... there might be a budding thing with Eric (Joseph Quinn's character) there. I mean, the guy reads poetry and does close-up magic, he's such a goofball, what's not to like?

Quinn: She's had a crush on Billy for about eight full years at this point. Has this changed now that they're together? Absolutely not. As far as she's concerned, he's still the hottest guy in any room and will always be a total catch.

Who has your OC made cry?

Spider: Honestly... I can't think of anyone. Maybe it's just that he's a new OC and I haven't sorted out all the details yet, but I can't quite picture this. He's not quite a ray of sunshine the way Jimmy is, and he can admittedly be a little out-there at times, but he's still a pretty nice guy.

Quinn: Out of the canon group... I don't think any of them, really. They're a pretty hardy lot, I don't think anyone would cry particularly easily. But I'm sure she's made plenty of people cry in the past, intentionally or not - she's tall and kind of intimidating-looking, and her sharp wit doesn't usually go over as well as she'd like it to.

Who does your OC love? (platonic)

Spider: He had a lot of friends before the apocalypse, mainly in the film circles (they just get him, and they're the same type of weird, like they're on the same wavelength), and one of his main goals post-Death Angels is to try and see if any of them have survived.

Quinn: As much as they get on her nerves, she loves the other Ghosts. She just loves being a part of a crew, there's something about it that's always been close to her heart.

Does your OC love anyone? (romantic)

Spider: Not yet. Again, imminent apocalypse, not much time for romance. He has had relationships in the past and did love his partners, but none currently.

Quinn: Again, Billy. They're absolutely inseparable.

Did your OC bear witness to anyone’s full character arc?

Spider: I mean... does anyone ever bear witness to a full character arc? Isn't everyone always changing and adapting in some way, just by the nature of life? Anyway, philosophy of it aside, I don't think so. He comes in at a very specific point in time, just like how Sam and Eric end up meeting in the movie, and he witnesses some character growth throughout that, but perhaps not a full arc.

Quinn: If it's anyone, it would be Billy. She met him when he was still pretty inexperienced with leading the crew, stuck with him as he got better about being a leader, stuck with him while he was with Lex, with Kyiv, and then when they finally get back together again, she sees the way he's matured after a few near-death experiences and all that time apart. The guy she'd known back at the start of the Wolf Pack would not have been so patient with her disabilities, let's just put it that way. He's a lot more open and understanding than he was when she knew him before (and it's mainly because of her...)

Is there anyone who your OC would die for?

Spider: No, but I don't mean that in a selfish way. He can't really imagine dying at all. He takes risks, sure, and he knows there's danger in those risks, but if he's going to die he imagines it'll come from some kind of accident or unforeseen circumstance, not something he'd seek out even for the sake of a loved one.

Quinn: Oh, sure. She really does have faith in her cause, and while she certainly isn't throwing herself into the paths of all the bullets she comes across, she wouldn't hesitate to give her life for any one of her teammates if it really came down to it.

[copperbora]

Introduction

Here be mine list of information sources that I often use for arguing with people who genocidally hate wolves (and other wildlife,) based on misinformation, anti-wolf propaganda like 'Smoke a Pack a Day!' (yes, wolf haters literally say inflammatory hogwash like this,) and centuries of uneducated fear based upon the very few times in history (actual accounts forgotten) that (likely largely habituated) wolves have been less than friendly to humans. (And I was going to include a picture of one of these 'smoke a pack a day' things but urgh... honestly they make me want to vomit.)

🐾Please note that I will be constantly adding to this list and updating it as I find new ammunition - er, sources, with which to argue with/informationally support my ongoing work on my science-based graphic novel, Knife Edge. (Which production is a bit slow on at the moment because I am spending most of my time outside.)

⚠️Important to note: wolf scientists can be a bit hard to talk to at times due to the fact that some of them have literally received death threats from wolf haters and people in the livestock industries who erronously believe based upon hearsay (i.e. no actual science,) that wolves are a threat to their top dollar. That's why the typically great podcast Ologies had trouble finding a wolf scientist for its lupinology episode - because people who hate wolves tend to hate people who say that they need to stop killing wolves because how dare they be wrong. (I'm still peeved about how bad that lupinology episode was by the way; it didn't even mention trophic cascades. Sigh. (That's why I haven't linked it here, and why I hope that Alie Ward will redo it someday, or that the podcast Science Versus will do a wolf episode instead someday.)

I myself am not a wolf scientist, (although this was my dream as a little girl which I gave up on due to painful dyscalcula,) but I am striving to be as expert about lupinology as much as a non-scientist can be, especially so that I can do wolves proper justice in my story Knife Edge as well as other future wolf advocacy projects that are percolating in my deranged little mind. My stunningly crappy brain for math may have prevented me from studying to become an actual wildlife biologist studying wolves in the field but it isn't going to stop me from helping wolves with my art by attempting to educate and dispel misinformation about them. I can do my best to be a science communicator and do wolf outreach through my work. Hopefully I won't get lynched for it.

Please feel free to use the following links should you decide that you need them. This post is linked in my pinned post so that it can be more easily found especially by me.

Why I Advocate for Wolves

- Because it's the right thing to do: wolves are sentient, highly social beings who live in closely knit family groups much like our own human families complete with parents who impart generational knowledge - such as tactically how to specifically hunt particular prey (for example: elk) - upon their offspring who either go off eventually to start their own families or stay put in their natal pack with their parents, helping to raise their younger siblings. No animal has been more horrifically scapegoated over the centuries of our coexistence than the wolf, which some people are still trying to eradicate even though no science supports this.

- Because I dream of a world where predators are protected, where all killing of them is banned, because they are simply too important to our planet to destroy. They are deeply critical to rewilding our planet and helping our own species survive, because where wolves are, wetlands and forests thrive, helping cure drought, prevent wildfires, facilitate natural carbon capture through the bettering of these ecosystems, and clean the water that we humans also drink, all by preventing cervid species like deer from overgrazing and destroying baby trees. Wolves cause trophic cascades which promote the survival of hundreds of other species from charismatic scavengers like bald eagles and red foxes to the freshwater trout that anglers love to catch whose health is aided by the beavers which are able to create expansive water meadows whenever deer are prevented by predators like wolves from eating all of the beavers' food.

- Because unshockingly, killing wolves greatly damages their genetic diversity, hindering their ability to survive as a species. (I can't believe that there are actually people surprised by this.)

- Because before we ruined everything, the presence of wolves and lack of human interference meant that pre-colonial biodiversity was unimagineably greater than what we see today and I for one would like to see this amazing biodiversity explode again within my lifetime.

- Because wolves and humans have a lot in common; they too mourn their dead and exhibit joy at the introduction of new babies to their families. Recognizing this isn't anthropomorphism; we too are animals, afterall.

"We have doomed the wolf not for what it is, but for what we deliberately and mistakenly perceive it to be – the mythologized epitome of a savage ruthless killer – which is, in reality, no more than a reflected image of ourself.” - Farley Mowat, Never Cry Wolf.

🐺Wolf Specific Citations

- Wolves as scapegoats for human evil.

- No statistical support for wolf 'control' (culling) and maternal penning as methods for helping endangered caribou in British Columbia. (Actually, erase the word culling - what they really mean is wolf genocide.)

- The plight of wolves in America (features an absolute textwall of citations!)

- New document suggests British Columbia is using Judas Wolves for aerial wolf cull.

- Account of use of Judas Wolves in British Columbia

- BC Wolf Cull: documents reveal cruel methods of killing wolves. (You can bet your butt that I am furious at my province for this.)

- Wolves do not require human 'help' to control their numbers.

- Wolves are extremely important for environmental health as they cause trophic cascades.

- A wolf, abruptly noticing a human, runs away in fear. (Example of typical human/wolf interaction.)

- Are wolves dangerous to humans? (Spoiler alert: they're statistically not.)

- Killing wolves is unnecessary: wolves naturally limit their own numbers.

- Wolves are not a significant threat to livestock. What is a genuine threat to livestock generally? Free roaming dogs (in fact, farmers in Scotland are allowed to outright shoot dogs who they notice bothering their animals,) dystocia (birthing complications,) and inclement weather - issues which could be aleviated at least a little if ranchers would just use some range riders - aka, cowboys.

- US government data shows that wolves have a negligible effect on livestock losses.

- Killing wolves actually leads to more livestock losses, not less.

- Alberta Rancher Using Non-Lethal Predator Control (hasn't 'had' to shoot a wolf in years.)

- Livestock Guardian Dogs Reduce Losses by 11-100% (utilized correctly they are extremely effective!)

- Livestock Guardian Dogs Reduce Predation (according to Texas A&M University.)

- Please note that the wolf ranking terms 'alpha/beta/omega' have been debunked and are no longer in reputable scientific use. I wrote a thing about it here. Wolf packs are families, not militant groups of marauding monsters.

- All about why we don't use the wolf ranking terms alpha/beta/omega anymore which is why I depict Larch's natal pack in Knife Edge without these terms.

Recommended Books & Films About Wolves

- The Homeward Wolf by Kevin Van Tighem (a great account of wolf behaviour including detailing how wolves have generational knowledge and typically only hunt what their elders have taught them to except in rare circumstances such as in the case of a melanistic male in the Canadian Rockies who started hunting mountain goats instead of the elk that he had been raised on.)

- The Last Wolf by Jim Crumley (goes over the extirpation of the wolf from Scotland and over the misinformation surrounding wolves in great detail; an inspiring read.)

- In the Shadow of a Rainbow by Robert Franklin Leslie (a novel telling the story of a remarkable friendship between a man and a wild wolf which also gives evidence to lupine pre-genocide culture.)

- Island of the Sea Wolves published and streamed by Netflix, which gives an interesting account of a wolf family that has two breeding females in it, who amazingly help each other raise their pups!

- The International Wolf Centre's wonderfully long list of wolf books and media. (Doesn't include everything though.)

Other Wildlife Citations (Mostly About Cougars, Honestly.)

As a wildlife advocate you have to pick your battles so most of my focus is on predators, particularly wolves, cougars, coyotes, and sharks with a small measure of focus on spotted hyenas. I do also have a soft spot for beavers, however, as they are personally sacred to me and also extremely important to the environment, being an unusual keystone species that is a herbivore rather than a predator. Generally predators are the most influential animals in a habitat but beavers - and bison - are novel exceptions. (And actually, squirrels are too. Every animal is an important facet however without natural predators ecosystems crumble. Humans are not a replacement; compared to predators like wolves humans typically do an outlandishly terrible job of positively influencing the ecosystem.)

- The importance of predators (many more useful citations!)

- Why We NEED Predators (ScienceNews)

- Unmasking the myth of wildlife 'management.' (Yet more citations.)

- USDA's war on wildlife (again super well cited!)

- Cougars are NOT a threat to public safety (and more facts about these adorable large dog-sized purr machines.)

- Cougars also cause trophic cascades (in fact many predators do this.)

- Cougars are actually extremely social.

- Cougars are TERRIFIED of human chatter!

- Cougars are the bigfoot of cats. (Also as they are technically 'small' cats - and they honestly are very small compared to actual pantherine big cats like tigers and lions - we need to stop calling them big cats.)

- Want to solve wildfires and drought? Leave it to BEAVERS!

- How beavers restore wetland in deserts.

- Coyotes under siege and misunderstood.

- Why killing coyotes doesn't work.

- Starving bear mercifully euthanized; autopsy reveals plastic impaction in its intestines.

- Disease precautions for hunters.

- The ecological effects of livestock guarding dogs (LGDs) on target and non-target wildlife.

- Impact of clear-cut logging on forests.

- Ojibwe Spirit Horse - here before colonization? Plausible, yes considering horse remains found in the arctic.

- Is shark repellent a real thing? (Yes it is, and it's being developed in modern times to save sharks from humans.)

- To underline how very little top predators want to hurt us much less eat us, watch this video to see a tiger shark (one of the most infamous species of shark,) happily cuddle with her human researcher friend and recognize him after not seeing him for years!

Other Wildlife Books & Films

- Lethal Control, produced by Predator Defense (an organization which does an amazing job of thoroughly listing their information sources) and is a film about M-44 cyanide bombs which kill wildlife and pets alike.

- American Coyote by Dan Flores (be warned, some of the information in regards to wolves is incorrect but it is still an extremely interesting and illuminating account of the coyote, Canis latrans.)

- California Mountain Lions: The Legends of California by One Health Institute (ecology of cougars and why they are threatened.)

- The consequences of sport hunting - hundreds of cougar kittens die by orphaning every year. (Hunting predators is NOT sustainable!)

Favourite Information Sources & Organizations to Support

- Predator Defense

- International Wolf Centre

- Wolf Conservation Centre

- The Fur-Bearers

- Raincoast Conservation Foundation

- Northern Lights Wildlife Wolf Centre

- MountainLion.org

My Silly(?) Pet Peeves About Wolves

- How many Etsy stores flatout copy that silhouette of Kiba from Wolf's Rain howling with the moon behind him in their designs. Damnit, learn how to draw!!

- The whole moon association with wolves - no, they do not howl at the moon, they howl because it's fun, to communicate where they are/where prey is, to mourn, to locate family members, to express hunt victory (or alternatively "Come and get it!") Wolves probably do not give a damn about the moon.

- When people call baby wolves 'cubs' instead of 'pups' or 'puppies.' No. Wolves are a species of wild dog and baby dogs are puppies, therefore baby wolves are also puppies. Grr. 'Cub' to me implies a baby bear, or, heaven forbid, a pantherine kitten like a baby lion or tiger. Maybe hyenas too.

- Wolf haters, and how ludicrous it is that they've made something so simple so political. Wolves, like human uteruses, should not be political.

- Trophy hunters.

- How every wolf story is extremely fantastical instead of based upon any science.

- How no company ever makes accurately patterned wolf plushies. Even fellow artists mess this up and it's kinda heartbreaking for me; most notably giving wolf plushies a white tail tip instead of a black one. Wolves are not foxes: white tail tips are extremely rare wolf markings! Most of the time the 'white' tail tip is just the result of a black wolf going silver as they age.

- How cartoon wolves rarely look at all like real wolves.

- The fact that their common name is 'grey' wolf when at least in North America they commonly come in black too. I propose 'timber' wolf as a much more accurate name, as they are usually found in forests.

My Silly(?) Pet Peeves About Other Wildlife

- Trophy hunters. Please find a different way to prove that you have disposable income and that you are manly.

- When people call cougars/pumas 'mountain lions' because cougars are only very distantly related to real lions - they're on opposite sides of Felidae. Their closest relatives are jaguarundi, followed by cheetahs. Lions belong to Panthera along with tigers and leopards while cougars belong to the genus Puma. Additionally, cougars and puma are indigenous names while mountain lion is colonial. (Pumas are found in South America, cougars live in North America; same species but different subspecies due to differing habitats and prey.) 'Cougar' is derived from an indigenous Tupi (Brazil) word, çuçuarana.

- When people misuse the word 'cougar' to describe women. Ugh. Stop.

- The name 'black bear' because black bears come in a whole rainbow of colours including white (spirit/kermode,) glacier (it's like blue roan for bears,) cinnamon, blonde and chocolate.

[simlit]

3, 6, 7, 9, 13, 19, 22, 24, 25, for VEN

What is your OCs fatal flaw? Are they aware of this flaw?

In his current state? Probably his selflessness. He gives too much to people and has a hard time drawing lines if it's someone he deeply cares about. Case in point, letting Naida more or less railroad the entire family into chasing the Fountain of Youth. In his defense, Naida isn't really someone you can win fights against, but considering the dangerous nature of the voyage, one would think he should have fought against it a lot harder. I do think he's aware of it, but not in a way he can actively check, because it's a lot of him overcompensating for the way he used to be and the things he's done. So I guess a larger and probably more fatal flaw is the fact that he carries around so much guilt and does a lot in the name of reparations.

How easily could your OC be convinced to do something that goes against their moral compass?

Easily, but tbh I feel this is one thing Ven shares with Kato. His morals can be bent depending on who is involved and the consequence of the situation. Ven isn't standing on moral highground in the first place, despite understanding right and wrong well enough. He certainly doesn't care enough about authority not to break rules, and as far as life or death is concerned, a life will always matter less to him if they're at odds with someone he loves. That being said, I think he's resourceful enough to find ways around making risky choices.

What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

Also a really fun question, cuz I haven't thought about it in years LOL. Though Ven stayed mostly the same from conception, he was supposed to be a bit more "roguish" even after his Reaper years. More of the typical pirate: loose, unkempt and thieving. But he ended up being way more charitable and straightlaced than I'd initially planned, but that ironed itself out almost immediately so I don't really consider it to have been "the plan" just "what I had had in mind at some point" lmao. Now the idea of Ven sleeping around with literally anyone is goddamn baffling to me.

Do you have a specific lyric or quote which you associate with your OC?

Every single word of his theme song, "The Balancer's Eye" by Lord Huron, but all of this: Nothing's waiting for us in the great sky Life is equal to dust in the Balancer's eye Now I know that I can't lift an old curse Tell me, how does a man change the universe? Will I ever be forgiven for the crime of my life? Will it haunt me till I die? To the end of time?

If you met your OC, would the two of you get along?

I think Ven is one of the few characters I can genuinely answer "yes" to this question lmao. Just because Ven is hands down the least judgmental of my OCs, not to mention packing all that charisma, he can literally talk to anyone. Although I probably would just be dead on the floor so it wouldn't be a very interesting conversation.

How does your OC behave when enraged?

We so rarely see Ven angry. Honestly, a bit like Kyrie, Ven has a quiet temper. He's good at restraining himself now, because he knows intimately well just how horrible of a person he can be, so he makes a concerted effort never to let anything get him that upset. Mostly, things don't anger him as much as he may be disappointed or saddened. There is one scene in OST:O I've had planned for years that actually showcases Ven's true anger and it is very much "silent and lethal" lmao.

What character alignment would you consider your OC to be?

Oof, I dunno, somewhere between neutral good and chaotic neutral. Hard to pinpoint lol

What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone done? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

Oh, this one is interesting. I think Ven could have easily continued down the path he started on when he got the sight. That is, had he not been able to pull himself back from that maniacal person he'd become as consequence, he'd be unrecognizable today. That's not to say he isn't already because he absolutely was that person for a moment in time. The Reaper King wasn't just a persona, it was his entire essence. He was ruthless, violent and he did very literally kill dozens (I won't say 100s but it's up there) of people. We like to imagine him as the loving father and perfect husband he is now, but outside of maybe Elsera he's my OC with the highest bodycount. And while in a way you could justify he killed people because "they deserved to die" he was never in the right to pass that judgement. Had he not eventually woken up from that state of trauma and derangement, he'd still be a completely unstable murderous lunatic .-.

What is your favorite thing about your OC?

How hot he is. The end.

[nelvana]

Back at it again with another pokemon playthrough, this time going all the way back to gen 1 and playing yellow! I had been playing this on and off again for a few years now, but finally wrapped things up a couple months ago. Those old sprites are fascinating. Similarly, I thought it would be fun to shake up the usual team drawing doing this in the original Game Boy colors!

Team stats and general gameplay info under the cut:

"Sunnie", Pikachu, Thunderbolt - Quick Attack - Double Team - Body Slam

"Frumky", Primeape, Strength - Dig - Low Kick - Rock Slide

"Spesk", Parasect, Slash - Mega Drain - Leech Life - Spore

"Memoire", Mew, Earthquake - Metronome - Surf - Psychic

"Beast", Flareon, Fire Blast - Sand-Attack - Smog - Quick Attack

"Leece", Dewgong, Headbutt - Surf - Rest - Ice Beam

General Playthrough Notes:

Gameplay total settled at nearly 20 hours! One of the shorter ones, I'd say; though, then again, there isn't really much to do in this game aside from the gyms and Team Rocket stuff.

We went in to the E4 with the whole team at level 45! Something that didn't go well in my old LeafGreen playthrough, but was perfectly fine here. The E4 wasn't that bad at all, honestly.

Kanto is not nearly good enough to deserve all the times I've played through it. I am so tired of Kanto and I'm not even done with it yet (I'm midway through a SoulSilver randomized apocalocke which, of course, has Kanto in the postgame, and I'm doing another LeafGreen run for some reason).

Okay okay so look you can see the mew on my team, I thought it'd be fun to have a mew! I missed the spots you're ideally supposed to perform the glitch in. I had just finished Cerulean City and then realized that the trainers I needed for the glitch were in that city! And I had already beaten them! I ended up using a dugtrio in diglett cave instead. It wasn't very consistent, took me a few tries, but eventually I got it.

Fun fact! At one point I was going to do a yellow nuzlocke! I ended up getting bored and realized I just wanted to play through yellow regularly, so here we are. In that run I caught Frumky though, which is actually what won me over enough to want to use her again in my actual yellow playthrough. It was actually that save where I traded with myself to get an alakazam back in my gold playthrough.

Gen 1 is so funny with how broken it is. I got so much joy in describing to my roommate all the fucked up things that were happening in-game.

Hey. Come here. Listen closely: I don't think parasect is as bad as everyone says it is. Even with the multiple x4 weaknesses in gen 1. Spesk was the mvp in a lot of fights, they packed a punch. Lovely little critter.

...Wish I could speak high praises for gen 1 flareon though. I enjoyed using Beast! But they really just don't get access to a lot of good moves. Beast had their moments, but ultimately didn't get as much screen time as I had hoped.

Similarly, dewgong? Not as good as I hoped. It really isn't quite as beefy as I had in mind. Poor thing. Again, still had fun with them on the team!

Having pikachu following me around and checking in with them whenever will never not be cute. We've been robbed of quality following pokemon in the modern games.

[thumpypuppy]

how do you usually come up with melodies n stuff? also what program did you use to make the isat soundtrack? :-)

Oh my gosh our first ask!

I (Lindar) have a few different ways I do it.

The title theme was originally written on a Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator PO-28. Just a stroke of inspiration, I guess? Sometimes it helps to sit down with an instrument and see what works, and different instruments lend themselves to different ways of thinking about music and melody, so I try to switch it up a lot.

Another way I tend to do it is to find an interesting chord progression and then let the melody emerge from that pattern, which can be a little frustrating sometimes, but has yielded some interesting results. Honestly I've been writing music for over two decades, and the process can be a bit arcane at times having amassed a whole host of different techniques over the years, but the years of experience is not required to make something good and catchy. At the end of the day I think my favorite way to test the viability of a piece of music as game audio is to play it for someone and then see if they start humming it to themself some time later. Hummable music means it's catchy, and that's what you're after, isn't it?

As for working with my other musicians, here are some things I've observed:

Alice is very methodical in her approach. She sits down at her DX7 with her headphones on and will try things and then iterate upon them until she is satisfied, and then will write everything in a sheet music notation software and send me a midi file when she's done. She's a classically trained violinist, comes from a family of jazz musicians, and is a big fan of progressive rock, so a lot of that influences the way she approaches music.

Sadie is also a jazz musician and former orchestra performer, she went to school for it, and honestly it can be incredible to watch her work, because she will simply pick up any instrument and immediately improvise something catchy. She's had several bands, she's been composing for years, and it can be magical watching her work. (She is currently in a band called Dirty Twenties, and you can find her solo work as "Sadie Greyduck" on most streaming platforms.)

Sandra… well Sandra likes punk rock and metal. She has done some of her own work, and we definitely have a similar approach to writing music, but she can be very scattershot in her approach. Primarily she does percussion for the studio, but her constant leaning over my shoulder definitely influences things, and she's the voice of reason when I have the tendency to over-compose.

As far as software is concerned, the studio runs Ableton Live with a host of VSTs that craft the sound we have, and a handful of live instruments as well. Some of the more notable things you've heard in "In Stars and Time" have been Native Instruments MASSIVE, Spitfire Audio Albion ONE, Toontrack Superior Drummer 2 (with the Metal Foundry pack), and our Ibanez 8-string guitar. If you're interested in all of the gear and plugins we have I'd be happy to do a separate post with a rundown of everything.

Thank you so much for sending us our first ask! I hope that answers your question! 😅👍💙

[arimiadev]

May Updates – Android Ports & Editing

May was a very hectic month for me personally, so there wasn't much progress made this month - but that doesn't mean there wasn't any!

Asphodelium

In May I was asked a simple question - will there be an Android port for Asphodelium? I almost immediately responded "no, it would need too much reworking", but then I got curious.

I assumed the small size of the text (as the story is completely NVL) would make it too hard to read on mobile, but I went ahead and (after a few Java downloads and updates) made a build for it and tested it out. It's actually quite readable and only needed a few tweaks. So, off and on for a few days I tinkered with a build of it, testing it out on my phone. And I was able to release it!

You can now play this Android build for free on itchio.

To go with it, I also released the stickers & print set I've been working on of Hazel & Aster on the store! Rather than have them be separate, I included them all under 1 pack for $10. You can find them on our merch store~

Canvas Menagerie

I wrote about 4k words for Canvas Menagerie. I also did a fair amount of editing for Act 2 of Canvas Menagerie, proofreading what's there and trying to make sure it all fits together.

There's one somewhat frustrating character in particular that is fully introduced in Act 2 who's named Rose - I won't go into who he is for spoiler reasons, but I will talk a bit about him as a person. Rose is a very secretive person with low self-esteem and not a solid self-image of himself. He's quiet and can come across as rude because of how little he responds to others, preferring to keep to himself.

Rose's sprite, which I was able to work on more this month!

Rose is very important to the later half of the story and a fair amount of it is centered on Niko trying to break Rose out of his shell as they're now coworkers. However, it can be hard for 2 reasons:

Rose isn't a love interest

Rose doesn't respond honestly (and hardly at all) to others

Rose isn't a love interest - Ren is. This is a romance game about Niko and Ren's growing relationship rather than a simulator game where there's multiple love interests. It's surprisingly hard to balance having scenes between two characters that could theoretically date but aren't going to. The overall focus is on Niko and Ren, but Niko and Rose's relationship is also important to the later half of the game - it's just not romantic.

Rose doesn't respond honestly - Rose is a very timid person, mainly because he doesn't have much confidence in himself. Rose is similar to how Niko is at the start of the game, but the interesting thing about their relationship is that by the time they meet, Niko is a different person. He's not overly confident, but the Niko that Rose meets has become more confident in himself and more comfortable with others than the Niko we first met at the beginning of the game - it's only because of meeting Ren that Niko changes. So, in a way, it becomes Niko's job to do the same for someone else.

I swab some lavender paint, hesitating to lay it down on the canvas. Just as I reach over to my phone, there's the sound of one of the doors opening. —And then, the door to my painting nook. Rose "Ah—" Niko "Oh." As probably the last person I thought I'd see, Rose steps in the warehouse room. Just as quickly as he stepped in, he looks like he's about to run off again. Niko "What are you doing here?" Rose "I—" Rose "I got turned around..." How do you get so lost to end up here?! Niko "What were you looking for?" Rose "...The script reading rooms." Wow. I know this studio can be confusing to navigate, but that's a whole new level. Niko "That's....kinda far away...." Niko "W-Wait, I didn't mean to laugh!" Rose tries to hide his face and shut the door, but I quickly reopen it. I'm not good enough at giving directions so he'll definitely be lost if I don't help him. Niko "Do you have to be there immediately?" Rose "...No?" Niko "Well, if you'll give me a minute to clean up then I can walk you down there." Rose "..." Rose "...Sure." He says everything with a careful pause. Canvas Menagerie - Act 2

I call Rose "frustrating" because, while I do like him, I sometimes feel like I'm Niko while writing his scenes - it feels like I'm trying to pull any kind of information out of him with little to no avail, just like Niko. I hope by the end though we're able to see Rose's true colors!

Last but not least, May 31st is a special day - it's Niko's birthday!

But I'm writing this in June a few days late because I was at OffKai Expo so....

HAPPY PRIDE! 💜

— Arimia

[pbandjesse]

My lips are very dry and I think I am dehydrated. Because I've been talking for the last couple hours. Yapping you could say. And I just had such a lovely day that started so unbelievably stressfully that you would not believe it.

I slept okay last night. I felt really nauseous right before we went to bed but me and James stayed up a little bit later together and I would drink some more water and felt slightly more normal. And I didn't wake up much even though James said that sweetie was committing Kitty crimes all night. There was evidence. Stuff all over the ground that he pulled down. But I woke up with my alarm and felt pretty good. I even gave myself a extra 10 minutes. When I woke up it was drizzling but not raining too hard yet. I still have the coastal advisory of my phone so I would prepared and I wore my new rain boots which were very comfortable. I also packed my dock sandals and an extra pair of socks and my eyeliner and a sweater because I would be working at the museum tonight and I wanted to look nice. And James waited for me but they probably shouldn't because they would end up getting soaked on their bike ride and I felt so bad. I should have just driven them to work but they said no. I'm so sorry that they got that though I feel so bad about it.

My drive to work though was very scary. It was raining buckets at points to the point that I couldn't see. And people were driving crazy pants. And we had to go super slow at times and it was just not a pleasant drive to work. But I made it just a couple minutes after 8:00 and I was doing okay.

I knew that we didn't really have to be there till 9:30 so I had some time to work on my research for the shield designs and eat my breakfast and just kind of enjoy the morning. And that's what I did for about 40 minutes. Around 9:00 I saw a car coming up and I just assumed it was Sarah. And then I saw someone come up on the porch and I just assumed it was Sarah. And then that person knocked on the window and it was a man. And I open the door and I'm like hello. And they're like hey I'm here for the field trip. I was like excuse me. Because the field trip we had today doesn't have parents so what are you talking about. And it turns out that one of my Native American field trips was actually scheduled for today when I thought it was on the 26th.

This was so incredibly stressful. I thought I was going to throw up for about an hour. I told him oh my God I didn't know you're coming today but that is okay we're going to make this work I just need your help. And so me and him jumped on the gator together. I called Elizabeth and she told me to lean on the other staff. And as soon as Sarah and Rachel came in I sent them off to do things for me and Nick would come in and help me as well. They got the hacienda set up and would go and grab stuff from the lunch for me while I was running around like a crazy person.

Me and the dad drove the gator over to tools and dwellings at the Pueblo and I asked something about the schedule that I had printed and he was like oh no this isn't right It's only Three groups not five. Not even four. And I was like wait how many kids does this group have but I didn't ask that follow up question and that was my mistake. Because he ended up being wrong and it was four groups. And the original original schedule I had was actually correct and everything was fine. I got him set up and Sarah brought the rest of my materials up to the hacienda and of course the school was exactly on time at 9:45. And I was like on the verge of losing it. Thankfully all of my volunteer parents had shown up a few minutes after I got back from printing the schedule and I was able to walk them all to their sites and get them acclimated but most of them had already been here apparently from 2019 so I didn't have to worry too much and they all were honestly some of the best parents I've had in a very long time. Like most of my parents are great but these parents that we had were so good that like they could probably do it as a job. Like they were doing songs and dancing and just really filling the 35 minutes and I was just thrilled.

I had to catch my breath but once the bus got there I ran down and I chatted with them for a second just to get everyone on the same page and we got inside and I jumped right into it. And my intro was good but not as detailed and I didn't ask as many questions cuz I was a little overwhelmed. And one of the problems with being in the hacienda is that the one toilet is broken right now and just continuously flushes and it's kind of loud. And I felt really bad about it cuz there's nothing I can do about it It just keeps flushing. And I had to tell them like hey I know this sounds really scary but like I'll hurt you I promise.

And the intro went good and then we were able to jump into fibers and I timed it really well because I was worried when I finished my intro early but then I was going to have too much time and fibers wouldn't take as long but we ended up finishing fibers with enough time to then break into our groups and just kind of move slowly and it was like totally chill. And I remember this teacher from years past and she is great even though she frowns constantly and I think she's mad at me but she's not she keeps telling me how much she loves me. Honestly a bunch of the parents were on the walkie talkies today telling me how much they left me and how great they thought I was and that just made me feel really good.

I had a lot of moments today where people were just being really nice to me. I don't know if I just looked like I needed it but everyone was complimenting me and tell me how pretty I was. And I was just feeling good. And I got to be really good at my job and I love that.

The field trip itself was great. I seriously think I walked about 40,000 steps today though the way my body aches and I was making so many loops. I was just bopping from one site to the next and checking things out and while I was doing that I was also flipping rocks I did not find any good critters. But I did find witches butter twice. And that was very exciting for me because that's my favorite mushroom right now. And I ended up having some really lovely conversations with chaperone parents including one who offered to be on the lookout for me for supplies because she's a professional organizer and she comes across stuff all the time that people are getting rid of and she would love to have someone that she could contact about getting it and I am a hoarder pack rat when it comes to supplies. So that could be a lovely little friendship.

It was getting warmer and I was having a really nice day even though I was a little exhausted. And after lunch I would spend most of the last hour of my field trip wandering around lower camp photographing the shields. Would you like to guess how many shields there are down there? Because it's 92. So I found all of the signs that I could and hopefully did not miss any or many. I still have to do upper camp but Elizabeth doesn't think there's very many up there so we're not that worried about it. But I will be able to start my research and organization of the shields and that's really exciting for me because I love having a little project and this is one that I think will be really beneficial in the long term.

While I was walking around doing that I was also answering the walkie and doing my job. One of our kids had an allergy attack I felt really bad because they weren't allowed to give him allergy medication but his eyeball swelled all up. So we got him to wash his face and we just hope that the fresh air would help.

While I was wandering around I also was going through the field where the other group was having their field trip that I was supposed to be a part of. It was our last end to go group and they were great but oh my God. We warned them that the Gaga pit was muddy. But Gabe decided that it was okay and these kids were So absolutely covered. Just head to toe soaked in mud. And I sat down for a second to organize my folder of photographs and a little girl came and sat next to me and she was coded just tow to hip. And she had splashes all over her face and she just pouting and she goes My mom's going to be mad at me. And I said yeah probably but thankfully you're washable. And then I told her she had mud inside her ear and she said oh no We had a very good little laugh about it. This was a very sweet group and I really hope they had a good day and I hope their parents are prepared for how messy their kids were going to come home.

At the end of my program Elizabeth called me to ask how I clean up the printmaking stuff which I now realize I forgot to grab but that is not a big deal. I can get that next week. And after that I went to the hacienda to wait for my group to be done. When everybody came I would do some questions and went over stuff and all of them seem like they learned a ton and that was really cool. I had them say thank you to the chaperones and volunteers. And then I said goodbye.

I spent the next hour cleaning the hacienda. And it was kind of hard to do it by myself. I hate having to put away the chairs and the tables and sweep. But I did it it just took a while. And while I was there a contractor came up to the end of a measure stuff and I didn't know who it was. So eventually I introduce myself and he asked about going downstairs to measure the bottom half of the building so I had to go to the office to get pool key and then I came back and finished sweeping. And I was going to get the gator to get the rest of my materials but Chloe had the key and I wasn't about to walk to the other side of camp to get it so I just used our car and I loaded it up. I put the staffs hanging out of our window because they are too tall. And it didn't take that long so it was totally fine. I drove down to the woodlands to double check commission The fire was good and then all the materials were put away nicely and then I went back up to the office. I checked in. And I let everybody know I was going home. Well not home but I was getting out of there.

Blue was laughing at me for beep bopping around all day and how I better be getting my steps counted but I am not actively wearing a pedometer right now. I'm going to have to get a battery for my Pikachu one again. I'm not sure if it's working but we will have to see. I would like to wear that this summer so that is definitely something for me to look into.

But it was time for me to go. I had to get something to eat before working at the museum tonight. I drove over to cockeysville and went to Wawa and while I was waiting for my sandwich the girl making the sandwich asked me if I knew how pretty I was. I was like what??. And she was like you're beautiful. And I was like thank you that's so nice. It relief just made my day.

I ate my sandwich in the car. And I watched a video about someone I did not care about and thought was kind of a horrible person. Just some YouTuber who apparently was very famous that recently died that I did not care about but apparently it was very controversial. And kind of terrible. And then I headed to work. I wanted to get there early so me and James could see each other for a few minutes. And when I got there James's backpack was sitting outside in the parking lot. I went inside and I was like James that's not safe this is why people with rob you all the time. Which is facetious I know. But still. Don't leave things sitting unattended.

James would leave to come home to meet their dad to go to the baseball game. And I had a lovely night at the museum. The other Jesse is so much fun. Like really I think we could be very good friends because he's so funny and he gets my humor but like in a dead pant sort of way and that's really nice. And I had a great time just goofing around for the first hour. Talk into the catering staff going through drawers and just having a good time. Chatting with the security guard. Who I eventually made the security guard and Jesse take a photo with photo with me. Because I thought it would be funny and I was correct. And it was just a lot of fun because it was a charity event. And it looked beautiful. They did such a good job.

I wouldn't have that many people come back but the ones I did were really lovely. And they said I was so good at my job and so informative. And they all had very good like follow-up questions and conversation. I got to turn on the museums machines and eventually I was making a loop around to the pharmacy just to see if anyone was in there and I saw that the garment loft was open. So I went and checked with Jesse if it was supposed to be and it wasn't but we decided it wasn't worth arguing over and I went in and gave a talk in there too and a couple of the same people from before came but some extras did as well and it was just so nice. Like I got to tell my stories and people were really interested and giving great facial expressions. And I got to talk about other stuff like art and travel and just how much I love living here. My husband. Everyone got a big laugh because I was wearing James's name tag tonight and they're like you don't look like a James. And I just love working at the museum.

While I was there I also got an email from Jessica and she offered me the education positions for the events for May because there was only three of them and I can take two of those three and I'm really excited about that. I hope that we get back in that habit because I want all of the events but I know that's not always fair. And also I can't actually do all of them because I'm very busy. But I'm really excited to do more because I really really enjoy that part of the job.

I left after chasing Jesse around so that we could take a photo booth photo. And I just got home. It's getting really windy. I'm not sure when the game is over I think it's about halfway done now. But I'm going to go inside and I'm going to get ready to chill out. Tomorrow I have no plans I'm hoping to do some house stuff. And then on Sunday I have some photos I need to do and some work for some upcoming stuff and then on Monday I also have nothing and it's great. This is just going to be like a nice little relaxing getting ready to go on our trip weekend. I might even pack. We'll see.

I hope that you all have a great night and you are taking care of yourself. Stay safe and rest. I love you all.

[nightmaremp]

Question for Jessica, what's your Relationship with Dr teeth really like , also how did yall get together?

Jessica: Our relationship is good and sweet. We enjoy spinning time together. We sometimes sing together or just watch movies.

I like to watch him setting up or playing his keyboard. He is a great cuddle bug in bed. Teeth often reminds me of a teddy bear sometimes.

Teeth loves to call me "his snowflake or snowy" He can make some of the cutest nicknames. He always try to make time from his rock and roll life for me and I love him for how he tries his best to make me happy. Which I am happy to be with him.

we are like two love bugs or two turtle doves that found a mate. :)

I honestly can't say how much I love him.

Of course, our relationship isn't perfect, no relationship is completely perfect or great. We did have only a few fights, but we always give each other time to cool down then we sit down and talk about the fight. We always say sorry and fix the problem.

How had we met?

well, Teeth and his friends were in the town I live. They were often to perform for the weeks they be there, at my father's bar. I remember that I actually bump into him in a store. I didn't know who he was at the time. I said sorry which he gives me a sweet smile.

It was December so; the bar was pack full. I remember my father inducing me to Teeth and I was very nervous. Teeth give me some comments about my looks and said that he had seen me singing one night at the bar. Teeth said I had the voice of an angel.

Some days pasts before Teeth ask me out which I was surprised since Teeth was actually the first guy to ask me out. Guys often said they don't how my skin is two different colors or the things I like.

It was snowing for our first date. We walk through the nearby park, and I couldn't help but fall for him. When he drops me off back at my family's house, he kisses me.

[lucy90712]

Hello! Can you write a plot with Fabio Q meeting a jornalist? Thanks

Fabio Quarararo- Crush

A/n: a lot of this will be Fabio's POV

This year is starting like most do with me flying out to Qatar to report on the first motogp race of the season. I have been doing this since 2019 but this year is going to be slightly different as usually I am there just as a journalist but this year I have a job with a tv broadcaster and so I will be doing some presenting and my usual interviews but they will also be filmed for tv now. The whole reason I'm in this position is because after finishing school I used the money I had from working part time to travel to races and trying to combine my passions which are writing and MotoGP. When I tried it I thought I would only make it to a few races but for some reason people actually liked what I wrote and I was able to make some money off it which meant I could keep going to races. Over time I kept building on what I was doing and now I'm very proud of everything I created but it's time to change things up a bit and try presenting as well as journalism. 

As much as I'm very nervous about the switch as writing something to post online and appearing live on tv are very different things I know I just need to do what I always do and I will be fine. It also helps that the first person I'm going to interview is my favourite rider Fabio, I know I'm not supposed to have favourites but he has always been super kind to me and always smiles at me when we see each other in the paddock. I know that that isn't anything special but most people don't acknowledge me when I'm walking around the paddock as I usually keep myself to myself but Fabio always acknowledges my existence which is nice. Having him be the first person I interview for tv is keeping me calmer as I know that he will be patient with me if things go wrong and he's always happy to answer questions when we did media last year so hopefully he'll be the same this year. 

When I arrived this morning I was given a schedule and joined by a camera man straight away so that we could go and set up our filming spot for the day. I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to be doing as I have never had to film interviews before as I always just use my phone to record the audio but luckily everyone else knew what they should be doing so I just had to prepare my questions and notes. As we had a bit of time before Fabio would arrive for his interview I sat down and started to write down my own questions to add to the few I was given for each interview as I like to make interviews more interesting than just the basic questions everyone asks. Quickly I realised that I was doing that as a distraction because as soon as I stopped I got incredibly nervous and had to walk away from where we had set up to calm myself down and tell myself it's just like any other interview. 

Fabio's POV

Being back to racing is great but I can't say I've missed the media side of things as that's always my least favourite part of a race weekend but it comes with the job. The first interviews of the season are usually the worst as no one really has anything to ask as we haven't been on track yet so usually questions are about testing or last season. When I first arrived to the track we had a team meeting to discuss the finalised spec of the bikes and just other general things but then it was time for my first interview so I headed there with the team media manager while looking at my phone to reply to some messages. While we walked I was given a briefing of the schedule for the day which was pretty packed but honestly it wasn't really any different to usual. 

Finally we reached the media centre where I had my first interview and just as I was about to sit down I almost stopped dead in my track when I saw who was doing the interview. Ever since I joined motogp there has been this girl who is always at every race and usually she is there with all the rest of the journalists recording and writing notes on our briefings. To everyone else she is probably just a normal journalist but from the second I saw her I thought she was incredibly pretty and always loved to see her at the debriefs. When walking around the paddock I always smile at her when I see her but we haven't spoken because I haven't been brave enough to strike up a conversation. None of that matters now as I'll have to speak to her for this interview and who knows maybe that will make me actually talk to her more often. 

Thinking about it more I don't know why she's doing this interview as normally she just writes about the sport which I know because I like to read whatever she puts out as it's actually interesting to read. As this is an interview for tv I'm quite surprised to see her as it's not something I ever expected her to do but I'm actually quite happy to see her as if this is something she's doing all season I think media is going to be a lot better. I also felt somewhat proud that after these last few years of just seeing her sit quietly and work hard on her skills that she got the recognition she deserved and is now working for a tv broadcaster. 

As I sat down she looked very nervous as I could see her biting her lip and tapping her pen on the notebook she had in her hand but I was hoping I could make her feel less nervous once we got started. She offered me a smile as she handed me a microphone which I could tell wasn't on so I quickly turned it on so that she didn't get embarrassed about doing something wrong before we even started. Once we started rolling and got a few questions out the way she definitely settled down and started to have more fun with it by asking more interesting questions which I enjoyed as I know for the rest of the day I'll be asked the same question a million times. We definitely went over the scheduled time but it was well worth it as it's the best interview I've done in a long time. After we were done with the interview I was determined to actually talk to her so I went over to her before realising I didn't know what to say. 

"Hey I just wanted to properly say hello as I've seen you around the last few years" I said 

"Well hello I should probably introduce myself I'm y/n" she said 

"Lovely to properly meet you y/n I'm Fabio but you already knew that" I joked 

We talked for a bit longer and I learnt that she started all of this on a whim after turning 18 and has since made it a career which I thought was really impressive. She talked about her new position a bit and how now she'll be doing more interviews and some presenting so I should see even more of her than usual. With how tight our schedules are we didn't really get chance to talk about anything other than work but it gives me an excuse to talk to her again. I didn't even get chance to properly say goodbye to her as I was made to go to my next interview and she had to talk with one of the other presenters about something. 

~~~~~~~~~~

After the first race I have seen so much more of y/n as she does all the interviews for the broadcaster she works for so I get to see her on media day and throughout the weekend. Doing those interviews has become my favourite parts of the day as she always has a smile on her face and always has something positive to say about the session even if it hasn't been the best for us which I like. I have also been trying to speak to her a bit outside of interviews which isn't always the easiest thing as we both have other things to do all the time but I try my best. Because I keep trying my best to speak to her I have learnt a bit more about her as a person like I know that she is a year younger than me and can speak bits of many different languages as she learnt them to speak to people around the paddock. She's just such a cool person and has so many stories to tell but you would never know as she just does her own thing and no one else cares enough to find out more. 

As much as I enjoy when I have interviews with her and getting to talk to her a bit in between I would love to spend time with her outside of work when there isn't such strict schedules to stick to. This is why I've been trying to build up the courage to ask her to go for drinks or something after a race weekend but its not been going quite to plan. Every race weekend I tell myself that I'm just going to ask her as the worst that can happen is that she says no but I just can't make myself do it. However this weekend I have promised myself that I will do it and I have told Jake (Dixon) so he will hold me accountable no matter how nervous I get. I don't know why I'm so nervous about it as I've never been like that before but something about y/n just makes me nervous in general. 

This weekend has been pretty chaotic as it is Le Mans which means I've had more interviews than usual so I haven't really had chance to speak to y/n but today after the race I'm determined to do it for myself and to avoid being ridiculed by my friends for backing out. Once the race was over my mind went straight to thinking about y/n like it usually does just this time I was worried about seeing her not excited. Through all of my other interviews I wasn't really paying attention as my one with y/n happened to be my last one which felt like the universe was trying to push me to ask her as well. 

When I got there she was all smiles as usual but there was no time for us to even say hello before we had to start as we were both running late so we quickly got on with the interview. After we were done she began to pack up all of her things and thanked the camera crew as they were now done for the day while I let my media manager go so that I could be alone with y/n. As I stood there waiting I began to get incredibly nervous again but I knew I had to do it especially when I got a text from Jake telling me that if I don't do it he will do it himself which I definitely don't want. Once she was ready I made my way over to her and psyched myself up to ask her but before I could start the conversation she did. 

"Hey there I feel like I've barely seen you this weekend how has your home race been?" She asked 

"Its been amazing even if I would have liked to have won the atmosphere has been incredible it's so weird to see so many people cheering for you" I replied 

"I could hear the crowd earlier and it was pretty loud from here so I can only imagine what its like actually out on track" she said 

"Yeah it was really cool, I wanted to ask you if at some point you would want to go and get drinks or some food" I said 

"I would love to when were you thinking?" She asked 

"If you are free now I know somewhere quiet we can go" I said 

"I'm free" she said 

~~~~~~~~~~

We agreed for me to pick her up from her hotel at 6 which is why I'm currently sat outside waiting for her to come out the door. Since I asked her I've been a lot less nervous as I know we get along and there is a lot for us to talk about so it shouldn't be awkward at any point plus she agreed to come out with me so it's not like she doesn't want to be here. At exactly 6 o'clock because y/n is always on time she walked out of the hotel front door looking absolutely stunning. She wasn't wearing anything particularly fancy but her hair was down and looked incredible and she had taken her makeup off so you could see how naturally beautiful she was. Once I saw her I got out of my car and went around to open the passenger door for her which she thanked me for after she said hello and got in the car. When in the car we got straight to talking like we had been friends for years which made me feel a bit conflicted because as much as it's nice that we are so comfortable with each other I would love to be more than friends but I'm not sure if that's what she wants. 

When we got to the little bar/restaurant I picked for us to go to we got given a table pretty quickly and then ordered our food and drinks before getting back to our conversation. Immediately we started joking and laughing with each other which had some people in the restaurant staring at us but neither of us cared as we were having fun. We told stories from our lives outside of the track the whole evening which was really nice as we haven't had too much chance to get to know more about each other's life. She kept saying that she hasn't lived the most interesting life but I loved every story that she told as I haven't lived a very normal life so it was interesting to hear what she had done with her life and family. 

After we finished eating and had a few drinks I paid even though she wanted to split the bill and then we went for a little walk around the town as its a small place so not too many people should be around. As time went on it got colder outside which y/n clearly wasn't prepared for as I could see her getting a bit cold. We walked for a bit longer before I could see that she was really cold so I took my hoodie off and gave it to her which she refused at first but I made her put it on before we went any further. Eventually we made it back to the car and I drove her back to her hotel where we said goodbye to each other and said we would do this again at the next race which happens to be next weekend.

~~~~~~~~~~

It is Thursday again which means its media day but luckily I'm almost done for the day and next I have my interview with y/n. I haven't seen her since we went out together last Sunday so I can't wait to se her again and maybe properly agree to do that again. I was so in my head thinking about plans for this weekend that I didn't even realise that it wasn't y/n doing the interview it was one of her colleagues. It took me by surprise but I told myself that she must just have something else to do or maybe her flight got delayed both of which are very reasonable things but in the back of my mind I couldn't help but worry about her. 

As the day went on I hadn't seen y/n around at all which wasn't how it normally is as usually we run into each other all the time and because I hadn't seen her my mind has been running wild with a million things that could of happened some of which I know are ridiculous but I can't help but worry about her. Typically we have never exchanged phone numbers as most of the time we only talk in the paddock so I can't just text her to make sure she's ok. I tried to just ignore it as its only one weekend but it was bugging me too much so I decided to find one of her colleagues to see if they had her number as they know we get along so they should be ok with giving me her number. 

I found one of her colleagues quite quickly and they were happy to give me her number and didn't even ask why which was great as I didn't want to admit that it's because I like her so much that her missing a race weekend has me worried. Once I got out of the conversation I went straight back to my motorhome and typed the number in and clicking the call button. Straight away I kind of regretted it as if she answers and has some good reason for not being here she's going to think that I'm weird for calling her and being so worried. I was beginning to hope that she wouldn't answer which is quite likely as to her it will just be a random phone number. With each ring it was looking less like she was going to answer but just as I thought the universe had saved me from embarrassment the ringing stopped and I heard her voice come through my phone. 

"Hello, who is this?" She asked 

"Hey y/n its me Fabio I'm really sorry for calling you but you weren't at the track and I wanted to make sure everything was alright" I kind of rambled to try and make myself look less weird 

"Oh hi everything is fine I just caught an awful sickness from my nephew when I went to help my sister out and they told me not to come to this weekends race even though I wanted to" she explained 

"That sounds awful I hope you feel better soon" I said sympathetically 

"Thank you but I have to ask who did you get my number from and why did you phone?" She asked 

Those were the exact questions I didn't really want her to ask as I know I'm going to have to tell the truth which could be awkward.

"I got your number off your colleague and I phoned as I was worried about you I mean you are always here and when you weren't I couldn't stop worrying about if you were ok" I said 

"Why were you so worried?" She probed 

"I'm just going to admit it as it will make things easier I really like you y/n and as more than a friend which is why you are always on my mind and why I was so worried when I didn't see you today as I just want to know that you are ok and happy" I admitted 

"Well I like you too" she said 

"Oh thank god I was worried I would ruin a good friendship how about we go on a proper date once you feel better" I suggested 

"I would love that I'll text you now that I have your number" she laughed 

With that I ended the call with the biggest smile on my face. It probably would have taken me months to actually ask her on a date if this hadn't happened so I guess her being sick has a good side to it.