#i am in loooove with the apartment building!!

[moonfromearth]

❄ Snow flurries!! ❄

[gingerjunhan]

Hello!! I found your page a while ago and I love your work so much 😊

Can you please write something about members reacting to you bring home a stray cat? I feel like that's just so adorable and sweet ☹️

☆彡 this is such a cute idea :( thank you sm for sending it in!!

word count: 899 | pronouns used: none | genre: fluff, established relationship | cws: some of them do say no (I'm sorry), lmk if I missed anything!

goo gunil

he's somewhat excited but also nervous

you were out on a walk, and a cat followed you home

you didn't have the heart to shoo it away, so you ended up bringing it to your front door

you tell Gunil that you brought a friend home, and at first he's so excited

*excited gasp* "Aren't you just the cutest?"

he fonds over the cat for a little while

and when you finally ask him to bring it inside, reality strikes

you can't possibly take this cat in

what if somebody else owns it???

he's hardly home between tour and rehearsal

and you have your own list of responsibilities as well

plus, you don't have anything you would need to take care of it, and you can't just drop everything and go get what you need

Gunil would know that he's breaking your heart telling you this, and he can't bear to see you upset

so he makes you a deal

if the cat keeps coming back, you guys will give it a new home

kim jungsu

so excited

you find a kitten outside of your apartment building on the way home from a date and you watch as Jungsu practically melts

he instantly reaches down to gently pick up his newfound best friend

"Hello, sweet angel!"

are there tears in his eyes?

he gently pets the cat, giving you a pouty look

and in that moment you realize that you both just became parents

while one of you thinks of names, the other starts scouring the internet for guidance and what you need

your date gets extended when you both end up taking a trip to a pet store, taking your child with you

"What if we named them Keyboard?"

"Jungsu, we can not name the cat Keyboard."

after buying the food, cat litter, and even a little collar, you make your way home as a family of three

kwak jiseok

another one who gets excited and nervous

you bring home your new furry little friend, and seeing the way your eyes light up makes Jiseok's heart melt

you're so happy, and he wants nothing more than to see you be happy

but he knows in his heart that he can't take care of a pet right now

tour is starting back up, he doesn't have the necessities to take care of a cat, the list goes on

"(Y/N), I love you, but I'm not ready to be a father."

his words make you laugh, but you know that he's right

you try to convince him, pulling out the puppy eyes

and he almost, almost gives in

the words are on the tip of his tongue

but he knows for the good of this sweet little kitty that he can't do it

he would feel bad if he couldn't properly take care of it

at a later date, however- maybe when his life has slowed down a bit- he easily brings the cat in with open arms

oh seungmin

he looooves to spoil you

so what does that mean?

"Whatever you want baby, you can have it."

why am I blushing?

so when Seungmin comes home one day to find you holding a cat in his arms...

he literally cannot say no

not that he wants to anyway

but come on

you look up at him with a big smile, petting the cat that keeps rubbing itself up against your legs, introducing him to your new friend

and he can't help but to sink down to his knees and pet the cat as well

"If I would've known you were bringing a cat home, I would've stopped at the pet store."

han hyeongjun

he's not entirely sure what to do

the two of you are out together, and he notices a cat following your path down the sidewalk

he tries to ignore it despite the pang of excitement in his chest, but once you see it, it's too late

you let out an excited gasp, letting go of is hand and rushing over to the sweet little creature

Hyeongjun feels his heart swell when you crouch down to meet the cat, holding a hand out for it to sniff

he already knows where this is going; so when you ask to take the cat home, he isn't surprised

"We can't take them home. What if they already have a home?"

you know he has a point, but when the cat starts to purr under your hand your heart melts

you try to convince him, but he unfortunately doesn't budge

you understand his reasoning, so you stand up, take his hand, and wave your new friend goodbye

lee jooyeon

let's be so for real here

he's bringing the cat home to you

walk with me here

he knows you love cats and that you've wanted one for years

so when he sees a cat outside of your apartment building, he's quick to debate bringing it home to you

he knows he shouldn't do anything without wanting you to... so he gives you a call

"Babe, there's a cat outside. Can I bring it in?"

the next thing you know, you're online looking at what cat food to buy

there is a brief moment when the two of you have to sit down and reconsider

is this a good idea? are we ready to take in a pet? will we have the time?

but the cuteness of your new family member eventually wins you both over

taglist: @dazzlingligth , @mini-mews , @mxlly143 , @somethingaboutcheese , comment to be added!⁎⁺˳✧༚

[freeuselandonorris]

15 questions 15 friends

i was tagged by i thinkkk @bright-and-burning and @481boxboxbaby absolutely ages ago, sorry it's taken me so long to get to this!

Are you named after anyone? no! my mum liked the name sophie because it means ‘wisdom’ in greek and she’d lived in greece for a while.

When was the last you cried? i had a little sob watching the ‘life and death of lily savage’ documentary on itv the other week because i am still so, so sad about paul o’grady dying, i adored him. as a kid, my favourite comedians (who i saw on tv) were julian clary and lily savage. half their jokes flew over my head but that dog was always in me!! anyway, as for real sobbing crying… i’m actually not sure? it was a while ago for sure. may it stay that way 🙏

Do you have kids? nope, and i won’t be having them. people used to tell me i’d change my mind once i got older and now i’m 35 and still have not experienced a single maternal twinge.

What sports do you play/have you played? i don’t play any kind of competitive sports and have avoided them for most of my life (i have extremely poor hand-eye coordination, hypermobile limbs and rubbish lungs. i’m not built for speed) but i do pole fitness and have done for about three years now, i’m not great at it (see above) but i loooove it and it’s gotten me way more hench than i was.

Do you use sarcasm? i used to use it constantly as a defence thing but less so these days. i do still use it though yeah.

What is the first thing you notice about people? sometimes i have this thing where the first second i meet someone i have this weird shine effect where i know they’re going to be a very important part of my life (good or bad). it’s only happened about three or four times but it’s always been right. on a more prosaic level: eyes, smile, body language.

What is your eye color? blue. it’s quite bright.

Scary movies or happy endings? scary movies!! love a good horror. i don’t like jumpscares or found footage/haunted doll whatever ones, but i love the nasty shit: video nasties, torture porn, french extreme, pinky horror, faux snuff, that kinda thing. i don’t want them so much these days but i was pretty obsessed for a while.

Any talents? i’m good at writing and drawing/painting, and i’m quite practical in the sense that i can fix things and build things, like i LOVE building flatpack furniture. i think my main ‘talent’ though is just that i can pick things up quickly. if i’m shown how to do something, generally i can do it pretty well quite quickly and i don’t need to be shown lots of times, and i’m good at being given a starting point and figuring things out from there. i think that’s the ‘talent’ i use most in life, certainly in work anyway.

Where were you born? north-west england.

What are your hobbies? writing! painting, drawing, reading, gaming, pole, strength training. i also have the classic ADHD thing of picking a new thing to be obsessed with for a month and spending a fortune on it three times a year.

Do you have any pets? no :( my mum has a lovely big useless fat cat called bandit though who i have shared custody of, she just can’t live at my flat.

How tall are you? 5’8’’ or 172cm

Favorite subject at school? art and english. i also quite liked what we called ‘tech’ which was like woodwork, metalwork, product design type stuff.

Dream job? i do not dream of labour. fr though i don’t really have one and never have, apart from maybe writer or artist but realistically i think i’d end up hating them if i had to rely on them to pay my bills. i thought about trying to get into motorsport jobs for a while but the hours look long, the pay is terrible, the atmosphere for femme people is…mixed, and i’d have to move halfway across the country. so yeah idk. universal basic income now!

not tagging anyone bc i'm so late to the party on this lol, but if you haven't been tagged and want to be, lmk and i'll tag you!

[erstwhilesparrow]

i've been thinking about maps and how they're inherently tricky little liars. you know that story about the emperor who wanted a 1:1 scale map of his entire kingdom, but creating that map required them to perfectly replicate the entire kingdom, at the exact same size as the kingdom? you see how that's kind of useless and how maps kind of have to leave things out for us to get any of the usual navigational help out of them? someone has to make decisions about what gets left out. what's important enough to be included. how things and places get represented. modern day maps loooove to promise objectivity and accuracy, but maps have stories and beliefs and historical contexts embedded in them no matter how hard you try to get away from those things. but this also means you can use them to tell interesting stories! how a thing is depicted on a map tells you things about the person / people responsible for its production!

due to being who i am, i think about this a lot in relation to empires smp. the kinds of maps that could be produced as the landscape of the world changes. the way that the in-game maps allow for a kind of instantaneous transfer of information over literally any distance via map copies. the extremely fixed and limited point of view provided by the in-game maps. the biases and interests of the cartographers of any given empire.

some (many) scattered thoughts in list format under the cut:

the particular idea that spurred this post: topographical maps of the regions surrounding the cod empire and mythland -- the way intensity of colour / shading and the choice of scale could be used to emphasize or gloss over the ravine separating them -- the ravine like a scar on the page, deep and dark, or the ravine like a neat line bracketed by the two other neat lines of the empires' respective walls. there are easy enough to guess reasons for who would want to create each type of map and why; tells you something about how each empire responded to the separation and war.

maps of pixandria from above -- i think a lot about how fwhip took copies of maps that the other empires had on display and put them up in his base so he would be able to see immediately if any of them start building something new. i think a lot about how when i was looking at minecraft maps of pixandria, big chunks of it just blended into the desert sand because pix was building with sandstone and i wasn't at all used to seeing pixandria from anything but ground-level. i think a lot about how this could add an extra element to how pixandria is supposed to have a bustling city under the anthill, and how fwhip's secret base is also underground, and how yeah, that's just A Cool Thing People Do Sometimes, but if it's so dangerously simple to get information about the surface of the world... how might people respond to that? consider spycraft in the empires. consider clever tricks and countermeasures. (consider s2, katherine's kingdom is falling apart, and her response, among other things, is to collect maps of her neighbours' territories. what's she worried about?)

itinerary maps -- maps have not always been bird's-eye view and carefully made to scale! itinerary maps were designed for travellers, and interested in accurately displaying the relative length of one's journey from one place to another, as well as the landmarks that one might see along the way (take a look at the Tabula Peutingeriana -- are you aware it's showing you italy?) -- in the context of empires, what types of journeys are so common that there might be demand for itinerary maps? who makes them, who uses them, what's considered a major landmark in this area and also does every mapmaker in this region consider that thing to be a major landmark? can you make something a major landmark by representing it on a map? (consider the turn of phrase about putting oneself on the map. who might want this, or not want this? the conspicuous absences in a map can also be telling. huh. i wonder how often that raid farm impulse built shows up on an empire's map in season 2.)

the usefulness of a given perspective -- kind of related to itinerary maps, i wonder how much more use you can get out of an in-game map when you have elytra? the emperors pretty much all have elytra, and the emperors often keep in-game maps of their empires. is there something there? what might it suggest about the expected use of those in-game maps?

self-aggrandizement -- another anecdote i think about all the time (and this one might be anecdotal sorry take it with a grain of salt) is the one where jesuit missionaries went to china and managed to convince some chinese nobles to trust them more after showing them a world map in the ortelian style, because chinese maps at that point mostly showed china as disproportionately large and at the center of the map, with europe (and the threat of barbarian invasion) dangerously close, and this map... didn't do that! consider how maps can create a nation or empire's sense of itself. the cod empire and mythland, always so fucking careful about the clarity of their borders. mezalea that looks massive on one map and is shoved off to the side in another. pixandrian maps that are cross-sections and not views from above. maps from the crystal cliffs that emphasize the mountain ranges like a jagged warning.

shape of the map -- hey did you know medieval european maps were often circular, with jerusalem in the center and the rest of the world split into asia, africa, and europe? you know maps can be different shapes, and this can tell you about what the creator thought was important (i don't remember exactly how circles are important to christianity but it was something about the perfection of god, maybe?) and how they understood the world? you think it could tell you something about where the map was meant to be used (a big circular map was probably meant to go on display!) and who was meant to see it? (ha, if you live in minecraft, what shape do you think the world is?)

questions and answers -- stuff like "who made this? to what end? under what influences?" are questions i have been specifically taught to ask about maps that i am presented with. in the context of empires worldbuilding, there's a really fun inversion where you do not have to work from the map to the context, but from the context to the map that might result from it. you can do cool things with this!! i am sure of it!!

[dotster001]

Anzu

Summary: based on @yandere-daze self aware enstars au. Yan!Anzu x gn! Reader. When you get pulled into your game, things don't turn out how you would hope.

Cw:yandere themes and manipulation

A/N: I have a sequel idea for this, and I'm writing it whether you like this one or not. Muahahahaha!

Parts: Two Three Four Five

You had no idea where you were. One minute, you were asleep in your bed, the next you were in an unknown city. Luckily for you, your feet seemed to know what they were doing. They were taking you…somewhere. Hopefully.

After what felt like hours of walking, you came upon a rather large building. Even if your feet were wrong for taking you here, you figured you could at least sit down and ask someone if they could help you get home. Heck, even a phone call would be great right now. 

You had never seen a business building look so….dead. There was no sign of life anywhere, despite the building being unlocked. The quiet was painful and deafening. You scanned the room and noticed a woman sitting in a chair.

She looked….depressed. like she was as lost as you were. But hey, you figured, maybe she can help me. You approached her but she still displayed no signs of life. You sat quietly in the chair across from her.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where I am?"

You'd never seen someone come back to the dead so fast before. Her eyes lit up at your voice and her excitement was palpable.

"Oh my God! It's you! You're here!" She shouted. 

Naturally, you were startled, but she seemed unperturbed as she got up from her seat and threw her arms around, nuzzling her face into your neck.

"Um, hi," you said. "Have we met?"

She pulled back, but only barely and looked deeply into your eyes. She seemed to search for something then let out a sad sigh.

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't know me. I'm Anzu."

 

The name definitely sounded familiar, but you still couldn't quite place it. 

"I'm sorry, I…."

She quickly interrupted you. "I'm from your game! Ensemble stars."

"Oh! Anzu, yeah!" The producer, you knew who she was. It all made sense now! "So this is a dream!"

She frowned, and whispered, "I hope not, cause that means when I wake up I'll be alone again." She looked like she was about to cry when she nuzzled back into you.

"Oh, sorry." You didn't know why you were apologizing, it wasn't your fault you were dreaming. You decided to play along and lift her spirits.

"But this is great, it means I get to meet you and all the other…"

"NO!" She said in practically a scream. She seemed to realize this because she cleared her throat and said, "I mean, um, uh, I loooove you because you're my muse, but they HATE you. They hate how you control them and force them to do things. But I care about you."

You were about to ask more about it when she stood up in a panic. She yanked you out of the chair and started practically running to the door.

"In fact, we should probably hide you in my apartment. Or else they'll take you away from me!" She turned to see you standing in your same spot. "C'mon! Trust me, I'm the only one here who loves you. I'm the only one who can protect you."

She seemed so certain, that you felt your heart break a little. You would've hoped that the characters you loved and cared about would at least be indifferent to you. But to hate you to the point where Anzu felt you may be in danger? It made you want to cry. So you followed her, to who knows where, hoping for the best 

[moonjxsung]

hi star bb!!

i missed you on here! i’m glad you’re doing better from covid, the cough might last a while (it did for me at least). i hope you had some good rest in the meanwhile though! i’m sorry you’re having such a tough january, bb. i kinda hate january bc i get the winter blues and last year i had to get like emergency surgery and im ✨traumatized✨ i hope february is a much better month for everyone🫶🏻

the chokehold build a beard had/have on me is insane. my parents got me those sanrio ones for like graduation gifts and stuff but i didn’t have a place to display them and i didn’t want them to get ruined so i put them away. i’m never selling them but im glad they’re in good conditions (i still haven’t had the guts to wash them😭)

ofccc bestie when they get here imma spam everyone with pics. i’m so excited for them you have no idea. i’ve been wanting kuromi for a while but she was always sold out (i almost got cinnamoroll as a financially irresponsible decision but he has just sold out😭)

i did see the capybara!!! and it’s def cute, i was like “must buy soon”. bc that’s my new obsession. i also loooove snoopy (my whole apartment is snoopy themed bc im healing my inner child😂) and they released one as well so another one to add to my list of financially irresponsible purchases!

i send you all my love and good wishes! ily💜

-🐈‍⬛

HI BBYYYYY !! 🫶🫶🫶🫶🩷🩷 the cough is indeed still lingering (sucking on a cough drop as we speak 💔) but at least the worst of it is over 😮‍💨 I think I’ll hate January forever after this year (also emergency surgery??? That sounds so scary bby I am SO sorry ☹️) at least it’s February now! Sending you all my love and best wishes for a great February 💖💘💓 SAME ABOUT THE BUILD A BEARS….. I am obsessed with the spring green frog from BAB literally anything spring green frog will find a home in my room 😤 I’ve been wanting the pink one forever but I think it was a limited edition one I’m SO SAD. Also I didn’t know there was a KUROMI BAB??? HUHHHH THIS IS NEWS TO ME…. I NEED HER. ALSO SNOOPY????? I love snoopy soooo bad oh my god especially anything puffer coat snoopy he is the CUTESTTTT😭😭 manifesting you get snoopy BAB!!!!

I love YOU I hope you’re doing amazing pookie 🫶💓🩷💔💘💖👼⭐️

[scoundrels-in-love]

3 8 15 18 20 27 45 54 55 56 58 61 for the writer questions thing :3:3:3 <3<3<3

Hi loooove, thank you so much for asking. *cracks knuckles*

3. Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic An idea - ??nfjnidfjgnf??SF?FD?/???? - oh god, there's typo in the published version

It's... unfortunately not too far from genuine truth. Most of my writing is done in parts of daydreaming it up at work, before sleep, babbling to my friends about it and then wallowing when I actually need to put the words I already came up with on 'paper'. Often I overthink little details too much along the way, enough to get stuck.

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

I am probably bad writer because I don't really view my stories in these segments, I don't plan the arcs and the build up with conscious awareness of storytelling as a method. I just go with the natural swell of emotions and events. The starting and closing lines are always hard, but that's all I define as beginning or end of story. Yes, I do worry if the closing part is satisfying and tells what I intended to, of course, but there's no strict divides in my head.

15. How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic?

I am writing about werewolves, plant genitalia and what borders as tentacle porn. Realistic is... Not really an option. Though I try to at least somewhat figure out what is physically potentially possible with their size differences, body builds and so forth. Sidenote, I can be picky about words I use in my smut, some I just don't think I'll end up using.

I don't have much of visual imagination or any interest in geting visual references for this that isn't like, fanart, so it's interesting exercise writing something that actually comes across as smut and could potentially be hot. I think I don't manage to convey it enough, but lot of what structures my smut is how characters feel about it, the specific acts and people involved in them. Or what they want the other characters to feel.

I am glad that several people have said that it's tangible these characters care from each other even on my purely smut writing, that gives me hope I am doing something right.

18. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

I used to be borderline physically unable to write a fic until I had a title for it. Same as I needed a name for an OC. As if it was the baseline establishing everything, backbone of it. Over the pauses I've taken in my writing, this has gone away and I often leave the title as the last thing to work on, along with summary. Unless the piece is inspired by a song or poem, then that is one of the first things I do, still.

I almost always use lines from songs, sometimes it's genuinely a hassle these days to find one that fits the fic, the vibe I want to convey. I dream of being the face on your page (I want to hold you forever, I want a taste of the Good Life) took several fucking hours, I was driving myself and my sibling up the wall with it.

20. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

In Trigun, I feel a little limited in setting, because most things will either take place in saloon/bar, in the desert often localized around a car and maybe Meryl's apartment. At least most of the stuff I've written so far, since I've not been ambitious with tackling Ship 3 or many AUs yet. So, the repetition in that is partially from what I'm writing for. I do know I have soft spot of times where one character ends up inviting the other into their space - sometimes as simple as a hug and often, into their apartment, living space. Especially when there are feelings attached to it being potentially theirs or having been theirs. This follows through from previous fandom(s).

Like I joked previously, it seems one of Rainy's fic bingo slots could be 'a character cries' - I've never written crying so often as I do for Trigun, but it doesn't. Entirely feel out of character or misplaced, somehow. There's lot of traumatic events, all the time, that I end up touching in my writing.

Grief, overall, is definitely a theme. Not just people, but possibilities, too. A chance at happiness. At peace. Yearning for something kinder, better, sweeter. For each other. I ironically don't think I've earned my title of 'rated E for Extreme Yearning' in Trigun yet, but it used to be my brand.

I definitely use deliberate repetitions for sentences.

I use words like smithereens, curdle, hoard, abyss, stone/rock in chest and the like quite a bit. Other than that, I'd actually love to hear what my readers have noticed, I am sure there's more than that!

27. What is your most and least favorite part of writing?

I love, love coming up with new ideas, excitedly talking with people about plots, character behaviors, just playing out little snippets among friends. It's by far the best and easiest part for me, I can spend days doing just that.

The writing itself... Oh, that can be torture. Like extracting words one by one by help of world's cruelest dentist. When it goes well, I love it and get a high like I very rarely do, but often, it's just. The Worst.

45. Do you want to break your readers‘ heart or make them laugh?

I am not a funny person - at least not the sort of funny that translates well into fiction. I have had few funnier stories in previous fandoms, or at least parts that have funny adjacent lines and when people have enjoyed them and said it made them laugh, I treasure that. But it's not a goal I set out to have.

Also not breaking anyone's heart, despite what it seems. I want to provide catharsis, for myself and for reader if possible, and for me that is usually getting to the bottom of the painful and then exploring way back up or at least showing that there is one (eg. think Disconnect). I am not much of one for angst without happy ending, there's so much misery in life, mine included, that never has one, that I want to imagine and create one where I can.

Though if I make a friend cry... It is a notch in my mental post, not going to lie. Makes me feel like I managed to write genuinely.

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Plotting, babbling, excited screaming with friends, for sure. Although very specific to fanfiction itself is seeing how to pick apart the world, the characters, transpose them into different situations, AUs, and make them still them. I love working out what makes them tick, what defines them and the relationships they have with each other.

55. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

I really enjoyed writing both Brienne and Jaime from my previous fandom, I found it satisfying when I could manage to create my own brand of Jaime's sarcastic, self-depreciating humor, the way he'd say one thing and mean another and sometimes put so much of him suddenly in it that people couldn't accept it easily. And Brienne was lesson in restraint - I wonder how I would write her now that I've allowed myself to... Well, more openly project my neurodivergency and depression onto characters. Write what I do know, not just reflection of what I think people are like from other people's writing.

Which is something I've been doing with Meryl. She is by no means me, or my self-insert into canon, but in the process of trying to understand her, I ended up allowing myself to give her some likeness to my aspects, to how I see and experience the world. And then it expanded to Vash and Wolfwood as well.

That'd be more physical descriptions of grounding via scratching when crying, Meryl's struggle of spoken words versus written ones, them all being aspec and struggling with understanding/being overwhelmed by emotions and attraction.

But back to who I enjoy writing the most - I really love writing Meryl and Wolfwood, though I always fear I am not getting Wolfwood's inner conflict, all the Christian stuff, right. I feel like he has to be more than I manage to write him as. More fucked up, more intense, more soft at his underbelly, more everything.

This is why Vash is lower on my enjoyment scale, too. I feel like he ought to sound and work more differently, being the hyper aware, hyper capable and at the same time, sometimes so silly, person he is. I enjoy writing him being perceived, but writing his POV can be very stressful for me, especially in situations where his competency and intelligence actually needs to be portrayed convincingly. /side eyes Love lives chapter 2

That aside, no it's not really been swayed by reader's reaction, though it has given me confidence, like when someone says I have given them Meryl centric writing they've been looking for.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Pride is a strong word, but I have ended up feeling close to pride for the way I draw comparisons, create similes, about or through emotions, use of nature metaphors and the like. I think it stems from my native language and the sort of things I grew up reading and listening to, but it is something I don't shy away from in fear of being too flowery. Not anymore. It's just how I write, how I see world and feel things and I don't want to go through process of censoring it.

58. What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most? (Brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, etc) 

Brainstorming >>>> writing > outlining/editing

Outlining often makes me trip up over small details that I suddenly feel are as huge as as infinite wall and I generally don't outline more than loosely in my head, I get to meat of writing directly in my thoughts. Editing has habit of tiring me out when I have been struggling with some sentence and rewritten it like 5 times already.

61. Why do you continue writing fics?

It's a question I ask myself often. And when I don't have an answer, I fall off the face of earth and cease writing.

I think, in truth, I write, at least past the point of thinking about it in privacy of my own mind, for community, for people. It is not the right reason to write, it has burned me many times when I don't get the engagement I crave or I feel like specific person I had in mind isn't really keen on what I created, but it is mine.

Beyond that, I want to explore feelings, want to find, and if possible, give some catharsis or comfort. Every time someone tells me my writing resonated with them, they felt seen or heard through it, maybe it comforted them, I feel like the effort to write was worth it. So, I guess the short answer is: Feelings. Humanity. Connection. The fictional ones and the ones we create through fiction.

Send me fanfic writer ask?&lt;3

[1337wtfomgbbq]

8, 10 and 30 for the ask game 😊

Uuuuh. Yall are FBI agents I swear.

8) How many languages you know? My mother language is German and I'm fluent in English. I may remember a little bit of Latin, but not much by any sense of the imagination. I'm not very good at learning laguages.

10) What are you enjoying to do in your free time? I like reading and writing mostly. Though I'm a lil bad at staying consistent with reading books, I mostly read fan fiction. I also loooove writing fan fiction. I also am madly in love with researching stuff and just world building and working on characters of my stories. Without actually writing the stories. Like, I like working on the frame works. I also like watching shows and movies. I'm so so glad that after years of depression I am finally able to watch new stuff. Cause the last couple of year I basically only watched the same seasons of 'Berlin Tag und Nacht' on repeat. I also enjoy listening to music or watching youtube videos. And of course I also LOVE being on tumblr and interacting with all of my lovely followers. I really greatly enjoy the time I spend on here and all the friends I have made over the last couple of years❤️🫂

30) What are your hobbies? Writing and reading. Drawing also but that more infrequent. Researching stuff and working on characters and worl building. Decorating my apartment. And I would actually also consider cleaning a hobby, cause it relaxes me a lot.

[simnematographygj]

#70. Green Apartment.

More pictures of this build you can find in my Instagram.

Ok, let me confess. I’ve never thought I would love to build with MM CC. And even if had MM pieces in my usual mods folder (well, it’s mostly Peacemaker’s CC), I could never build with MM CC only. My heart belongs to Alpha CC forever, sorry. If only my computer could handle all of that beauty… Anyways, as you might have noticed, I loooove creating apartments, and Culpepper House flats are my absolute favourite places to build. Or rebuild. So this one, Culpepper House 19, was my recent victim to play with *insert evil laugh here*. It has kitchen (NO WAY), living room and two bedrooms including toddler’s room. First time in my life I decided to create toddler’s room with CC… Am I ok? :D

2 bedrooms, ! bathroom

With CC

Not playtested

The list of required DLC is higher. CC-list is included. You will have to turn bb.moveobjects on before placing.

You have to have your game fully updated to use this build.

Thank you, our dearest @peacemaker-ic, @harrie-cc​, @felixandresims, @charlypancakes​, @pierisim​ for your awesome CC I used here!

Please, give me a credit if you use this lot, ‘cause I want to know if I was helpful to someone with my creations. Thank you!

______________________________

Download: Patreon (free)

OriginID: GordanJohnson. You can find a little bit more already posted there :)

If one day you would realise that you want to support me, you can buy me a coffee on Ko-Fi. Thank you in advance!

Thank you for reblogging, @maxismatchccworld :)

[cosmicbells]

Can you write some jealousy headconan (I don't know but I am addicted to those at the moment) for your bds favorites + dazai and how they deal with it. Fem reader, can be fluff or smut. Show me that ✨chef's kiss✨

um OF COURSE I CAN (sorry this is so late my semester just started so i’ve been so busy) (also lowkey did more characters than i anticipated but idc i love them all)

dazai

✧ this child, this demon, he gets so fucking petty if he sees another guy flirting with you

✧ he will make an entire fucking scene wherever you two are just because he cannot help himself

✧ “my precious belladonna! how could you let another man woo you like so when i’m right here? how could you hurt your beautiful boyfriend when you promised we could partake in a double suicide together?”

✧ you would have to literally drag him back to the agency before he gets anymore complaints from citizens in yokohama

✧ the only way this man child will forgive you is if you shower him in praise and kisses, telling him how he’s the only one for you

✧ only then he will be satisfied by your answer, moving on to boast about how beautiful his precious girlfriend is

kunikida

✧ honestly it depends on the day with this man

✧ he is so secure with your relationship that he practically encourages whoever is trying to flirt with you to keep going

✧ he’s well aware you and him are loyal to each other and no other person could change that

✧ however, on days where dazai has pissed him off more than usual, kunikida will become furious if he sees anyone so much as hint at flirting with you

✧ puts a stop to it immediately and will drag you all the way back to his apartment

✧ the only thing that will make him feel better is roughly fucking you against the wall until the only thing you’re capable of doing is wailing his name into the night

ranpo

✧ he turns into such a baby if he sees anyone trying to flirt with you

✧ makes it his life’s purpose to hang onto you and interrupt the conversation, whining about how he needs love from his girlfriend

✧ “babyyyy i need snacks and some loooove. can we go home pleaseeee”

✧ will be attached to your side for the rest of the day, and the agency is always made well aware of when this happens

✧ he will take you back to the agency for an hour just to whine to fukuzawa about how someone tried to take his love away from him

✧ he does this while forcing you to sit in his lap so he can wrap his arms around you and bury his face into your neck afterwards (adorable bean i love him sm)

chuuya

✧ you better hope to god that chuuya doesn’t catch anyone trying to flirt with you, because he gets mad and he does it fast

✧ good fucking luck to anyone trying to flirt with you in the first place because if chuuya sees this, it’s like a switch is snapped and he goes ballistic

✧ attacks them so fast that neither of you see it happen until the person is on the floor with a broken nose

✧ chuuya is already dragging you away though, and once you two are in an abandoned alleyway he will hate fuck you until you’re a crying mess

✧ the entire time all he can say is “mine” and then proceeds to cover your entire neck and chest in dark purple hickeys

✧ then proceeds to parade you around the entire building where headquarters is just to announce that you’re his and only his (possessive mf)

oda

✧ you cannot find someone who would be less jealous than our boy odasaku

✧ it takes so much to even get him the tiniest bit jealous, he’s more secure with your relationship than kunikida is

✧ if he sees someone flirting with you, he will barely react, only really hold your hand because he likes the physical contact

✧ however, if he sees someone else lay a hand on you in a flirty manner, his patience breaks just a tiny bit

✧ he doesn’t wait to see what else they’ll do, instead he’ll just turn your head towards him and kiss you gently, with just enough pressure to have your head spinning

✧ will murmur into your ear asking if you want to leave, then stare down whoever was flirting with you as you two walk away, oda’s arm over your shoulder

[spine-buster]

peaceful easy feeling ft. b.boeser | three

A/N: Thanks again for your positive feedback on this mini-series!  Please keep those canon questions coming as you guys know I loooove answering them to help build the canon!  This one is a short one but it will be made up for by the last two chapters.

CONTENT WARNING: parents with disease/sickness (Parkinson’s); swearing; sex; alcohol use; lots of emotions.

                                                                 *     *     *     *     *

Brock and Grace were having fun.  Actual, genuine, real fun.  Whenever they were together, they were smiling and laughing and kissing and having a good time.  They’d go out to eat at Vancouver’s best restaurants.  They’d take walks in parks or along the seawall.  They’d get coffee at cute little cafés and munch on bespoke cookies or donuts that would make Brock complain about extra hours in the gym.  They’d invite Elias and Svea with them and it would be great, because they were great, and they’d all just be constantly laughing.  Grace and Svea got closer – much closer.  Elias and Brock were tearing it up for the Canucks.  Grace and Svea would go to bars for a glass of wine before going to games together.  They’d cheer and clap and sing along with all the songs being blasted throughout the arena.

Fun.  Life was fun.  

***

“How do I bite it?!” Brock was incredulous at the size of the cupcake Grace got him.  It was bigger than his jaw could open.  Elias and Svea were already ready with their damn phones to film him.  “I can’t…” he tried to bring it up to his mouth.

“Just put the whole thing in your mouth!” Grace exclaimed.

“That’s what she said,” Elias mumbled, only to garner a disapproving mother look from Brock and a slap on the arm from Svea.  “What!  Isn’t that the joke?!”

“Don’t be crass,” Svea chastised before focusing her attention back on Brock.  “Just bite the thing, Brock.  Just…just stuff it in there,” he pretended to do the motion herself.

“Again, that’s what she said.”

Grace hit Elias too this time.  

***

“You can get us reservations to Hawksworth?” Svea asked in shock.  

Grace nodded casually, like it was the easiest thing in the world to get a reservation at Vancouver’s best and most exclusive restaurant.  “The Gillespie’s own the Rosewood Hotel Georgia.”

“You do?”

Grace nodded again before sucking back on an oyster.  “When do you want to eat there?”

“Oh, I – I don’t know.  Can I get back to you?”

“Of course!  Just let me know.”

“Wow Grace,” Svea said.  “You really do have the world at your fingertips.  Vancouver especially.”

Grace shrugged her shoulders.  “It’s a blessing and a curse.  I can’t go anywhere without running into someone that knows my dad or knows who I am and thinks they know me.  It’s even worse when they knew my dad a long time ago and only ask about how he���s doing with his Parkinson’s now.  Most of the time they don’t even truly care.  And I’d trade it all in, every single penny, if it meant my dad never got Parkinson’s.”

Svea couldn’t imagine living that kind of life.  She didn’t know how Grace did it – or Brock, for that matter.  She would be a sobbing mess on the floor every single day.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to be insensitive when I—”

“Oh God no.  No no no – you don’t need to apologize.  I just…” Grace paused, trying to collect her thoughts.  “I know how fortunate I am, believe me.  I just don’t think people know that – that I know I’m fortunate.  But Parkinson’s – any chronic illness – it really humbles you.  Most people don’t know what that’s like.  And like, thank God they don’t.  But they think they know.”

All Svea could do was nod her head and listen.

***

Whenever Brock sent a text that said ‘come over and watch a movie’ Grace knew what that really meant.  But instead of finding it lewd, she’d slather on some raspberry chapstick and be on her merry way to Brock’s apartment.

When they were done, and lying in bed together, with her head on his chest and her hair sprawled everywhere, that’s when the talking would begin.  “How’s your dad doing?”  “Are the new round of meds working?”  “Is he having more trouble getting up now?”  “What are the doctors saying?”  “How’s his memory?”  “How’s the swallowing?”  “Are the doctors recommending speech therapy?”  

“When I quit dance, my dad was so disappointed,” Grace revealed one night as Brock was running his hands through her hair.  “It was the only thing I was ever really, really good at.  I wasn’t the best in school.  I just didn’t get things the way other kids did.  And when I told him the reason, he made me promise I’d keep doing dance in some capacity.  I maybe wouldn’t do it super-competitively anymore with him driving me all around BC and flying me all over Canada and the US to attend competitions, but I’d still do it.  That’s why I teach at the Goh Ballet.  Like…I know I’m not the smartest girl in the world, but I like to think I have a big heart.  And I just hope that people see that.”

“I wear number six because it was my dad’s number,” Brock revealed too, one night when they were alone.  “I wanted…I wanted to make sure that if he wasn’t around, my career would still honour him in some way.  I want that to be my legacy…like, everything I do, I do for my dad.”

Grace nodded.  She completely understood.  “I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who knows and understands exactly what I’m going through,” she said.  “Do you think it was fate that brought us together at that meeting?”

Brock found himself nodding his head automatically.  “Of course,” he said softly.

***

“I’m sorry we couldn’t have you at the house for dinner, Brock, but our chef is on vacation,” Eliza Carmichael, Grace’s mom, smiled from across the table as she sipped on her glass of wine.  From beside her, her husband, Grace’s step-dad James kept perusing the menu, as did Grace’s two step-brothers, Jasper and Theo, who were seated at opposite heads of the table.  

“Oh that’s no problem at all,” he smiled politely, grabbing Grace’s hand underneath the table and squeezing it gently before putting it in his lap.  “I actually come here with the boys sometimes.  The food here is amazing.”

“It is, isn’t it?  James knows the head chef,” she said.  “Grace tells me you’re a hockey player.”

It was at that point that James put down his menu.  “Honey, he plays for the Vancouver Canucks.  We’ve been over this.”

Eliza rolled her eyes playfully before picking up her menu.  It was only at that point that Brock noticed the giant rock on her finger.  It was the size of his eyeball.  “Grace tells me you live in Shaughnessy,” he said, trying to make polite conversation.  “I hear that’s a beautiful neighbourhood.”

“Oh, it is.  Perfect place for the quiet life hockey player’s lead,” James joked.  Brock forced out a chuckle.

***

“I love this song!!!” Grace exclaimed as the DJ began to play some old school Rihanna.  She downed the rest of her drink and slapped the glass against the bar before grabbing Brock’s arm with one hand and Svea’s hand with the other, knowing that Svea would, on instinct, grab Elias’s arm and drag him to the dance floor too.

The club was completely unstuffy.  There were no girls dressed to the nines, no four-inch stiletto heels digging into Grace’s feet, no people showing up just to be seen in booths with bottle service.  It was completely unpretentious and that’s how Grace liked it.  Considering her lifestyle and her wealth, it was actually how she liked everything.  So when the DJ began playing pop songs, she couldn’t help but start dancing uncontrollably.  To his credit, Brock did too.  It was like he lost all his inhibitions and began moving his body in tune with the music.  Even Elias and Svea did, and Grace knew how…well, quiet they were.  This wasn’t their scene at all but they were having the time of their life dancing with each other, spinning each other around and moving to the beat of the music.  

For at least a night, Grace could forget.  She could forget how her parents used her to get back at one another during an awful divorce.  She could forget her mom re-married an equally as nice guy as her dad but became more pretentious as the years went on and the wealth accumulated.  She could forget that she made the decision to quit dancing professionally.  She could forget her dad had Parkinson’s.  For one night, everything was perfect.  Everything was fun.  Everything was how it should be.

***

“Fuuuuck, baby,” Brock groaned as he watched Grace climb on top of him, leaning forward so she could press his breasts up against his face.  He immediately took the opportunity to place wet, open mouth kisses all over her breasts, kissing down to her nipples before taking them in his mouth.  He could feel her grab his cock and lower herself onto it, sighing at the feeling of him filling her up.  “Feel good?”

“You always feel amazing,” she smiled, her hair falling around her face.  “That’s why I can’t stop fucking you.”

Brock chuckled, a cocky smile on his face as he reached up and brought Grace’s face down so he could kiss her and stick his tongue down her throat.  “Ride me, baby,” he mumbled against her lips.

Grace began rocking her hips back and forth, her body moving so expertly and so in tune with Brock’s.  Almost immediately, she began to moan, and Brock grabbed her hands and intertwined their fingers so she’d have something to brace against.  Brock was in a trance – as he usually was when Grace was riding.  He was completely and utterly transfixed by her in every sense of the word, and in every way; from the hair on her head to the red nail polish on her toes.  

“God, I fucking love you, Grace.”

The words had barely escape Brock’s mouth before he realized the magnitude of what he said, how he said it, and when he’d fucking said it.  God, he was such a fucking idiot!!!!!  During sex?!  Really?!  Way to live the cliché Brock Boeser!  Way to be a fucking idiot and—

“I fucking love you too, Brock,” he heard Grace say, a smile adorned on her face.  The both of them giggled, and couldn’t stop giggling for a while even though she was still riding him.  It was miraculous.  “Way to say it for the first time while I’m riding you,” she joked.

“I couldn’t help myself,” he said.  

“You’re lucky I love you, because that’s such an amateur move, Brock.”

[lilsuzn]

MLQC Gavin - Fluff abc headcanons

So by the popular demand - I am back.

Just kidding. No one was asking.

Fandom: Mr. Love: Queen's Choice

Warnings: None (the reader is gender neutral)

Dedication: @marytheredqueen

A = Admiration (what do they absolutely adore about you?)

You need to trust me when I tell you that Gavin had indeed tried to find at least one thing he could dislike about you. Many times.

Yet your body seems to have no flaws. He checked quite a few times at this point.

Your heart is pure. Loving. Patient. Loyal.

Whenever you’re at his side… The world is at peace. No pain exists, nor does suffering.

You are his purpose. You are his equilibrium. Nothing matters as long as he can be by your side.

B = Body (what is their favorite part of your body?)

Your beautiful eyes.

There will never be anything more beautiful than the way they shine before your lips meet in a loving kiss.

C = Cuddling (how do they like to cuddle?)

Him on his back.

You in his arms. Laying on top of him.

Your head rests on his chest, no matter if it’s your front, side or back that presses against his muscular torso - it’s perfect.

He also likes the smell of your shampoo… it’s just intoxicating for him.

D = Dates (what does their ideal date with you look like?)

He likes doing things outside with you.

Attending festivals, engaging in new, interesting sports, indulging in some street food or picnics.

He’s a sucker for long, romantic walks too, soooooo

He takes you out to the festival. Buys all kinds of yummy food for both of you to share. Wins you an enormous plushie and then carries it around for you. While holding your hand. Tightly.

Then takes you for a night stroll, to then kiss you under the sky full of stars before you turn back.

E = Emotions (how do they express emotion around you?)

He only feels like he can really express himself around you - so it will get intense. In all the best ways.

Gavin doesn’t shy away with showing you his affection, even if he tends to have a slight problem with voicing it sometimes.

His expression softness, his fingers brush delicate circles on your skin.

He doesn’t need to say anything. You know.

F = Family (do they want one? If they do, when?)

Oh he really, really wants a family.

Two kids… or maybe more.

A dog for them, maybe.

House with a big garden and a treehouse.

He wants to play and fool around with his kids. Put them to bed. Support them. Be proud of them… Everything his father never did.

G = Gifts (how do they feel about gift giving? What are their habits when it comes to this?)

When you want something, no matter how silly it might be - it’s yours.

Don’t even make me start on what you need.

Because there are very little things (and all of them are about you) that could make him happier than seeing you happy because of what he gave you.

H = Holding Hands (when/how do they like to hold hands?)

It's not optional.

There will be hands holding whenever it's possible.

It’s as much for your safety as it is for his comfort. 

All these guys with eyes better don’t use them to stare at you. 

See this hand? This beautiful gem of a person is with ME.

Likes to hold your hand while snuggling on a couch. Or in bed while falling asleep.

Holding hands is like a physical projection of the bond that’s between the two of you - and he loves it.

I = Injury (how would they act if you got hurt?)

He would blame himself. No matter what. It might be ridiculous, but he would always feel guilty for not preventing it from happening.

Wouldn’t leave your side. Would help you with anything and everything.

If there’s a concrete person or a group of people that caused your harm... Insert a very, very angry and strong bird cop with a gun.

J = Jokes (do they like to joke around with or prank you? how?)

You would have a light-hearted relationship in which he would tease you from time to time and he wouldn’t be mad if you did the same to him.

However he’s not one to prank you. He would find no enjoyment in it.

K = Kisses (how do they like to kiss you?)

Gavin loves to be kissed and he loves to kiss. All over your face. All over your body.

Any kisses are game. Slow and passionate ones. Heated ones. Sweet, delicate, loving, appreciating - he loves them all as long as he can share them with you.

L = Love (how do they show you they love you?)

Acts of service - He looooves to spoil his lovely sweetheart (you) this way. Wants to bring you food, tidy up your apartment for you, brush your hair, paint your nails… Just ask him and he will do it. Whatever it is. And then he will do things on his own initiative, because he likes to surprise you. You smile so beautifully when he does…...

Gifts - He likes gift giving as I already mentioned in G, but it’s no indication of love to him. He just enjoys your reactions. Prefers to show his love differently.

Physical touch - His number one and you can not convince me it is not. He’s a snuggly bear who loves kisses. You are just so soft and warm and he loves you sosososososo much. Would never want to hold this way any other. His physical affection is something reserved only for you. 

Quality time - see Q.

Words of affirmation - Gavin is not very good with words. Not that he can’t be when he wants to, but he kinda doesn’t want to most of the time. It’s uncomfortable. He’s feeling unconfident doing so. He prefers other ways, but when he does speak up… It’s the most adorable and loving thing you will ever hear in your life.

M = Memory (favorite memory together?)

It was your first 'real' date, but even though you both confessed love to each other, you weren't a ‘official’ couple yet.

At least there was no proper act of becoming a one.

You walk through the park on an evening of a chilly fall. Not many people in sight.

You just finished a lovely dinner date. Gavin even bought you a dessert to share.

And it just felt right. Everything.

The way your fingers were laced. How you both couldn't spot peeping at each other.

"Will you be my girlfriend Y/N? Please?"

He sure was pretty sure you wouldn't deny him, but he didn't expect you to throw your arms around his neck and kiss him the way you did.

"Nothing could ever make me happier than that, Gavin."

N = Nightmare (what is their worst fear?)

He’s scared of losing you.

Either by you walking away from him after discovering that you “deserve so much better”

Or by not being alert enough to protect you…

Surely, he would prefer the first option, but he can’t deny that both would hit him harder than anything else ever could.

O = Oddity (what is one quirk they have?)

Gavin is a little bit of an odd duck in general, but I think he has one major weirdness about him.

I would call it… A Keanu Reeves complex.

He doesn’t like compliments. Always feels like they’re far from true, because he always feels like he’s not enough and maybe even never will be.

Which is so far from true.

Like, Vivi, come on! You’re so freakin perfect!

P = Pet Names (what do they like to call you?)

He usually calls you simply by your name, but the boy has his moments.

Moments when he can help but call you all sorts of the cutest names.

Little angel, starry eyes, little munchkin along with the classics like honey, babe, sweetheart, treasure and my precious.

Q = Quality Time (how do they like to spend time with you?)

How?

Often.

Intensely.

Calmly.

Comfortably.

Restlessly.

He just wants to be by your side. Any. Chance. He. Gets.

R = Rhythm (what song reminds you of them?)

Moonlight by Ariana Grande

Because Gavin’s sweet like candy, but he’s such a man...

Or A Drop In The Ocean by Ron Pope 

S = Secrets (how open are they with you?)

Not at all. At least at first.

He gets better with time, but you still need to ask for it. He would never just come to you to lean on your shoulder and tell you what troubles him.

T = Time (how long did it take you to get together?)

Well. A lot.

Because of what I say in X below.

He just assumes that you don’t reciprocate his feelings, because he doesn’t deserve it.

He eventually tells you about his feelings under your insistent questions regarding the subject.

And then? After he finally tells you?

That’s when it escalates quickly.

U = Upset (how do they act when you’re upset?)

At first he tries to keep it inside. Not let you see… But it’s pretty obvious since he doesn’t talk to you. Barely throws any acknowledgment your way.

It would take quite some convincing for him to tell you what’s wrong.

Unless it’s jealousy that is a reason behind his anger. Then he will show you just how upset he is…

Not necessary in a bad way, tho...

V = Vaunt (what are they proud of? Do they like to show you off?)

He’s very proud of you. Always.

Even when you think you’re a failure, he still recognizes how hard you work and how smart you are.

And he also prides himself for earning love of a woman as wonderful as you.

But he’s not a show off. He doesn’t like to be in a center of attention. He doesn’t care for compliments or recognition.

He knows how wonderful you are and that’s all that matters to him.

W = Warrior (how do they feel about you fighting? Would they fight for you, beside you, etc?)

Well, it goes without saying.

Yes. Obviously.

This is Gavin. He does it actively throughout the whole story like it’s the only thing he knows.

X = X-Ray (how well are they able to read you?)

He’s not an expert in emotions.

He gave MC a blood stained letter and was surprised she was troubled by that.

Okay, let’s not sugar coat it - he’s not good at it at all. I said it.

I’m sorry. I wish it was different for you Vivi.

Y = Yes (how would they propose to you?)

I think in Gavin’s case it would be no kneeling with a ring type of thing, because he personally sees no value of that.

Of course, he would if you told him that that’s what you want, but if you don’t…

It would be a beautiful, summer evening. The both of you watching a beautiful sunset from the rooftop of a high building.

Last months you spent together were absolutely wonderful. Life with you by his side was much happier than Gavin could ever dream of… And the way the golden sunlight graces your skin is so, so beautiful.

It wasn’t the first time the thought crossed the bird cop’s mind. He caught himself thinking about it more and more often as your relationship progressed… And before he knew it, the words left his lips.

At first you were sure you must have misheard, so you asked him to repeat. And he did.

His beautiful eyes glimmered with so much love… just as much as you felt for him. 

How could you say no to that gorgeous man that adores you so much?

And after that, expect to someday come back home to find the most beautiful and meaningful ring in the world waiting for you to wear it.

Z = Zen (what makes them feel calm?)

Gavin is a man who enjoys simple things in life.

He likes to cozy up with you on a couch on his birthday. 

Watch a sunrise and drink cocoa with you on Christmas.

He obviously enjoys various sports, especially if he can enjoy them with you.

But what really, really makes him perfectly calm? Driving Sparky with your hands around his ways and your chest pressed against his back.

The feeling of freedom mixed the warmth of your closeness… how could anyone ask for more?

[be-not-afeared]

Black Sails fic recs

Working titles: 12 fics for christmas? 12 days of ficmas? 12 fics none of which actually have anything to do with christmas?

OKAY, so I love nothing more than a fic rec post, and I’ve seen a few Black Sails rec posts floating around but they mostly seem to be a couple of years old and they all recommend a similar bunch of fics (and deservedly so! they are all amazing!). But I thought I would make one to highlight some newer or less shouted-about fics, because I may have only been here for a couple of months but jfc there is so much talent in this fandom and more of it deserves to be hyped. 

So, here are 12 of my favourite fics for the 12 days of christmas! (i.e. an excuse to put an arbitrary number cap on the list or we’d be here all day)

The majority of these are Silver/Flint and the ones that aren’t still all feature Silver prominently because that boy owns my soul, sorry for who I am as a person.

we should rip it straight out by minormendings

45K (Silver/Madi, Silver/Flint, Flint/Thomas)

Madi has always wondered if Silver understands what is between him and Flint as well as she. To her, it has always been obvious, from the way the two of them had fit together, had worried about each other, had acted as one. She had tried to bring it up with Silver back when they were together. But Silver had shaken her off, too enmired in the idea that he or Flint would prove each other’s downfall. Or perhaps just unwilling to open his eyes to the fact that he had loved Flint.

It was, unfortunately for the both of them, even more obvious after the thing between them had broken. Just as Silver had thrown away the war out of love for her, Flint had let Silver take away the war rather than kill him.

God. What a group the three of them were, showing love by betrayal.

Post-canon. Madi and Flint find their way back to Silver.

This fic diverges from canon right at the end of the 4x10; Silver has Flint held in a cell in Port Royal and Thomas delivered to him rather than taking him straight to the plantation. It is a BEAUTIFUL character study of how Flint and Madi could both come to forgive Silver, and has a great FlintMadi dynamic too. It also centres Madi’s struggle between wanting to provide for her people and wanting to experience the freedom of piracy, and fleshes out Julius’ character in a way the show never did. 

we can lose and call it living by I_wouldnt_be_one_of_them

31K (Silver/Flint/Thomas, Silver/Flint, Flint/Thomas)

It's been twelve years since everything fell apart, and John Silver is settled in New England. He has a nice house and a job he likes, and he's gotten used to the loneliness. It's a good life, he thinks, but of course that's cast into doubt when James Flint and Thomas Hamilton show up to find closure and, apparently, to see whether he's happy.

This is an inverse of the ‘silver arrives on flint and thomas’ doorstep’ trope and has Flint and Thomas instead being the ones to interrupt Silver, who is living a sad and lonely existence post-series. I love the ThomasSilver dynamic here. And this Silver feels so true to canon he makes me want to WEEP.

Tell me we're dead and I'll love you even more by Craftnarok

21K (Silver/Flint)

In the year 1725, or thereabouts, John Silver finds himself driven by a storm into an inconsequential little port town, barely a speck on any civilised map. Returned to the life of a drifter, tired and rough around the edges, he is resigned to waiting for the weather to pass before he can sail on again to the next town, and the next, and the next. That is until he overhears a conversation in the inn about a local fisherman, one Captain Barlow, and his tall tales of tempests and becalmings, devils and sharks, and Silver finds a new future opening up to him, haunted by the spectres of his past.

All of Craftnarok’s fics are amazing but I am particularly drawn to this one; it’s set 10 years post-series and is a delightfully angsty exploration of how Flint and Silver could find their way back to each other in a scenario in which Thomas wasn’t at the plantation. It doesn’t let Silver off easy and I love that.

armed with the past and the will by whimsicalimages

3K (Silver/Madi, Madi & Julius)

The language of winning and losing, this language that men favor – Madi can speak this language, though she disagrees with its precepts. Success takes different forms, and failing once does not mean failing forever. It does not even mean failing the next time.

Post-series, Julius teaches Madi how to fight. This fic is BEAUTIFUL - give me anything that centres Madi post-canon - and it explores Madi’s relationship with both Julius and Silver so well in so few words. 

Always In Season by mycapeisplaid

60K (Silver/Flint, past Flint/Thomas, past Silver/Madi)

Towering sand dunes, crystal-clear water, miles of forest, vineyards, orchards, and very spotty cellular service -- John Silver finds himself in a part of the state he's never been before and decides to take on seasonal work. Meanwhile, back from his yearly wintering in Florida, James Flint thinks that perhaps he'll take on a new business venture, even though it means he might have to interact with people other than his two close friends. Their summer employment fosters a friendship that could become something more. Like construction season in Michigan, the two must navigate through their own obstacles in order to seek an alternative route toward happiness.

This is an AU and so much fun!! Silver finds himself in Michigan and takes on some seasonal work at Guthrie Dunes. The whole cast features and the setting just WORKS SO WELL. And this Flint feels brilliantly in character despite the difference in setting.

to make a life by gone_girl

53K (Max/Anne, Max & Silver)

“What am I going to do with your name?” Max asks, a little incredulous.

“Whatever you want,” the salesman says. “Didn’t you want something real?”

Max heard a story once about the importance of answering questions like that carefully. If something emerges from the forest and asks for your name, don’t give it up, the story went. Offer only what you know you can live without. She’s never heard a story that tells her what to do when something emerges from the forest and offers its name to you.

I literally only finished this this morning but holy shit this fic is amazing, it’s a Max-centric AU set in Missouri the early 00s and it’s all about found family and building community and platonic love and it has a brilliant SilverMadi dynamic. And there just aren’t enough fics out there that focus on Max & Silver!! 

the straight walk home by vowelinthug

73K (Silver/Flint)

Let me tell you a story, about a vaquero named Vasquez…

Obviously vowelinthug’s fics are recc’d all the time and rightly so as they are AMAZING, but one that I don’t see featured as often as the more prominent ones is this incredible Western!AU. It’s 73K guys!! It adapts the canon narrative into the Western setting SO well!! It has background Vane/Billy which I was not at all sure about going in but just WORKS!! Go read it.

The Truth about Eros by Aisalynn

21K (Silver/Flint, Silver/Madi, Flint/Thomas)

Silver understood one thing very well.

Being Fated did not mean you were safe.

It did not mean you were loved.

This one is hot off the press! I am not normally a fan of soulmate AUs but this is such an interesting take on the trope, and the world building fits around the polyamory theme of the show really effectively! And it is SO well written.

With Nothing on My Tongue by RosieTwiggs

13K (Silver/Flint, Silver/Madi)

"Silver thinks: Maybe God likes it when I fight with him.

He wonders now, whether he’s been playing into God’s plan all along. Because no matter how angry he gets, how defensive, how many “fuck you”s he flings to the heaven, isn’t it all just proof that he still believes God is there, despite it all?

Silver doesn’t know how to counter that.

Maybe he doesn’t want to anymore."

An incredibly well written (and angsty! read the tags!) Jewish!Silver character study. This one has really stayed with me.

Maybe in Another Life by samedifference61

31K (Silver/Flint/Madi, Flint/Madi, Silver/Flint, Silver/Madi)

At the rail of a ship James doesn’t command, they stand shoulder to shoulder.

“John still thinks you’re dead,” James states, because it’s something that needs to be said aloud before they continue.

With eyes unblinking toward the rolling sea, Madi says, “And he still thinks you should be dead.”

James’ lip curls in anger. The wounds of betrayal are too fresh for either to say anymore.

Canon-divergent from 4x09, this is a brilliant MadiFlint centric fic exploring their relationship post Silver’s betrayal, and how he could find his way back to them both whilst acknowledging the weight of his actions.

in a vault of starlight by whimsicalimages

7K (Silver/Madi/Flint/Thomas)

The distance between Nassau and Savannah can be measured as: six hundred and thirteen nautical miles, five thousand pounds’ worth of pearls, or four extraordinary lifetimes.

Alternatively: in the aftermath, Madi writes her own story.

There aren’t enough Madi centric fics out there! This one is a lovely extension of canon with a great MadiSilver dynamic in particular.

the aftershocks remain by pdameron

31K (Silver & Miranda, Silver/Flint)

For as long as he can remember, John Silver has been able to see ghosts. He has no trouble keeping this secret from Flint - until Charlestown. Until Miranda.

Again all of pdameron’s fics are brilliant but I loooove this SilverMiranda centric one, plus who doesn’t love a ghost!au.

[ot3]

your last post made me think about how I loooove how you use color in your art, it's so vibrant and full of life and movement and expression! I was wondering if you had any advice on how to do color studies? perhaps doing drawings with limited palettes? or anything similar?

First things first, thank you, I really do appreciate comments like these! this post now also has a follow up for finish limited palette pieces

I'm obviously very fond of limited palette art and color studies/color thumbnailing are great ways to get that done. When people think limited palette there's often the association of unrealistic and fantastical color palettes, but learning to limit your color use absolutely applies to semirealism and just builds stronger color theory in general. I was planning to talk about limited palettes in more realistic color use in this post, but this already ended up way too long. If that's something people want to hear about I can talk about it later.

Color theory basics crash-course! I'm sure almost anyone who has colored anything is familiar with this, so I'll be SUPER brief, but I want everyone to be on the same page for this. Color has three qualities you need to take into account: Hue, saturation, and brightness. Hue is what we think of as the 'color'. Saturation is the vibrancy of this color; how bold or dull it is. Brightness is how light or dark the color is. Here's this all labeled on a color picker I stole from google.

As a rule of thumb, things that look good in color should look good in grayscale. Having a strong range of values (brightness) makes for a strong image. Keep this in mind when you're picking colors – knowing what areas need to be light and what areas need to be dark before you start coloring will make your life easier. I'm going to teach you when and how to break this rule later, but for now let's just talk about picking a palette. I've found five to seven different colors to be a really nice sweet spot for working with limited palettes.

There are three main types of color palettes ill work with and ill provide examples each of them. I expect you to all politely refrain commenting on the amount of homestuck fanart that's here.

Monochromatic, where the piece is all within one color family with slight variations in hue, and larger variations in brightness and saturation

Accent, which is essentially the same as a monochromatic type with the addition of a strong, contrasting secondary color in one or two variants. Normally the accent color is lighter and serves as a highlight. This is not any kind of a hard rule, but is instead just what I like.

Split. There are two (or more) main colors at play, each with a couple of different shades.

Cool. Now lets see how we'd go about making one of these palettes.

 I'm grabbing an inconsequential sketch i've already got and we're gonna slap some color on it. Let's start monochromatic – I've gone and just tossed six pretty random shades of green on it, picking what goes where based on what I want to be light and what I want to be darker. 

Keep in mind, by monochromatic, I don't mean just picking one color and making it lighter or darker! Adjust your hue within the same color family – some of these are very blue, definitely more blue than green, and some are much warmer and yellower. Play around. In this stage I like to have every color on a distinct layer, so I can just recolor the entire layer at once as I tweak the palette.

 On the right, I have each color lined up in order of lightest to darkest just so I can get a sense of what I'm working with. Lets go ahead and call this one thumbnail. Now I'm gonna group the layers, duplicate them, and flatten the copy. I'll shrink it down and shove it off to the side so I can compare it to the other ones I make later.

Okay, I did a few more almost completely arbitrary monochromatic palettes. Here they are compared with their grayscale counterparts. 

All of them have the same number of colors, and lights stay lights, darks stay dark, midtones stay mid consistent between all of them, but the range of values is different between them all. The difference in light or dark between each tone is different and it gives a different mood that you can see even in black and white. None of them is more 'correct' than any other, and it's all about establishing the tone and atmosphere you want. Experimentation is key.

Now lets try making this a complimentary palette. With a strong accent color, your accent should be placed at areas of importance. People are naturally drawn to contrast and when using an accent color in a piece it'll make that area stick out, so make sure you're placing your colors with intent. For this I went back to that first set of greens I had because it was my favorite. Since this palette is over all very dark, I am going to make my accent the lightest color, because that'll stand out more. In a lighter palette, try making your accent the darkest color. Once again I must stress these are not hard rules – there are very few hard rules in art at all – but these are very useful tips for getting emphasis in the right place. This is just an example piece so I'm not being huuugely thoughtful with how I'm placing the color. 

Here's the same image but with the lightest green just swapped out for a far more vibrant accent of yellow. Looks pretty terrible. I don't want all of the papers and blinds to seem so prominent. So let's scrap this and try a different approach. We're gonna instead add our accent as a sixth color to our palette.

By adding another color, I've added another level of detail. Figuring out how to manage detail isn't just dependent on how many colors you have, but this is already going to be ridiculously long so I'll spare you that spiel. This is another one of those things I'll talk about more later if people want to hear my #thots. Using the new yellow accent, I emphasized the eyes, the mug, and added some interior detailing to the objects on the table. I also decided to place yellow in some of the windows of the outside buildings, to add a bit more interest in that area, and to justify giving yellow back lighting to our little goblin lad here, which makes him stand out nicely.

A split palette makes things a whole lot more complicated. Now that you're gonna be working with two different base colors you don't just only have to worry about which one is lighter or darker, you have to worry about how the hues look next to each other. Lets work with an orange on top of our original green here. I picked two of the greens and replaced the darker one with a darker orange, and the lighter one with a lighter orange. Now our palette is six colors split 50/50 between orange+yellow, and green. 

But now something interesting is happening. Let's take a look. If you're particularly keen eyed, you might have noticed that there's a third set of colors here, using a greyish brown in place of the oranges. What's up with that?

Well, what's up with that is, they are orange. The palette on the far right is what happens if, instead of choosing my own oranges, I simply hue-shifted the bluegreens until they were technically orange in hue. 

The oranges I chose just based on how they looked without actually checking the value and saturation of actually changed the value hierarchy of the whole piece. The table, instead of being in between the objects stacked upon it in terms of brightness, is lighter than either. This isnt bad at all – there's absolutely nothing wrong here. It's just important to be aware of things like this! This is why I said a split palette is the most complicated of the three I'm talking about here – in many occasions, the hue hierarchy can top the value hierarchy. Keep that in mind for slightly later.

I think split palettes work really well for comics, and I like to make my comics with split palettes. Whereas with a single illustration, you can just putz around with your color thumbnails until you get something good, for a comic you're locked into your palette once you've done the first page. Unless you're some sort of insanely meticulous person, in which case I envy you, you probably don't have every single page of your comic blocked out with respective values and can't apply your palette to the whole thing at once to test it. This means you'll need a palette that's pretty versatile. Having a split palette where one of the hue sets is lighter than the other overall allows you to decide whether you're going to create an overall light panel with dark accents, or vice versa. I'm gonna compare two palettes I'm using for comics to make this point. 

Here's a sampling of the comic pages in full color, at 0% saturation, and adjusted for grayscale respectively. You'll notice a slight difference between the desaturated colors and the grayscale colors – grayscale seems to hold truer to the full color version, doesn't it?

Now, here are the palettes themselves, and some grids showing the relationship between every pair of colors. When you don't know exactly what you're going to be using any given palette for, the relationship between any two colors becomes more important than ever. The bottom palette is split three ways, red yellow and blue each with a light and a dark, and then a completely neutral dark gray color. I'm using it for a long ongoing ace attorney comic I'm drawing. The top one has 4 shades of blue that go from darker and cooler to lighter and warmer, then 3 shades of orange that get yellower as they get lighter. Underneath is just the values – you'll notice that the top palette has a larger value range, with its lightest color being lighter than that of the bottom palette, and it's mid tones spaced further apart. 

What you'll also notice about the bottom palette is that instead of the reds being lighter than the blues and darker than the yellows, the value alternates dark red dark yellow light red light yellow. Take a look at the color grids. You'll notice that for the most part, every color in the palette on the right looks good with every other color. That's not nearly as true for the palette on the left. The light blue has a weird vibration where it meets either of the reds, and a few of the pairings just aren't particularly pleasant. Honestly, from any objective ideas of color theory, this palette kind of sucks shit. Lets make some adjustments to it.

I've changed the dark yellow and light red hues so now the light red is slightly darker than the dark yellow. That's the palette that's on top now. Looks better, doesn't it? But so now the question becomes why am I using a palette that looks awkward, disharmonious, and visually strained when I know exactly how to fix it? The simple answer is because I wanted a color palette that's awkward. I wanted that visual strain. I have trouble working on comics and general, especially anything as long as this one, and I wanted a color palette that already meant things would come out looking a little bit wonky, so I wouldn't be as concerned with nitpicking all the details and making everything pretty. I think the sort of visual upset also fits the tone I'm keeping with a lot of the comic.

Remember earlier when I said I'd talk about breaking the rule of stuff looking good in gray scale and in color? That's now. Take a look at this image. 

Which of the three colors is darker: the red, blue, or yellow? The stupid truth of it is that there's not really a proper way to tell. All three are technically the same 'brightness' but our brain tells us that the blue is the darkest, and the yellow is the lightest. Why do our brains do this? Let’s make em gray now.

On the bottom you can see what the colors look like when they are set to 0% saturation; as you'd expect it's a homogeneous gray blob. So then what the fuck is going on with the grayscale one? The grayscale one is closer to the way our brains interpret the colors, but we know this to be an improper rendering of their respective values. Which is the correct version, then – the grayscale or the desaturation? Luckily, we're using a computer, so we can have photoshop tell us the exact balance of hue, saturation, and brightness of any given pixel. Let's take a look now.

Wait, huh? We can plainly see that all three of the colors are at 49% brightness. But neither the desaturated value or any of the 3 grayscale values have a brightness of 49%. So what does a brightness of 49% look like?

Okay. Sure. Why not.

All of what I've just shown you regarding grayscale is to emphasize the point that your best judgment for which colors look good is a far better measuring stick for a good color palette than any technicalities. Even if the value is the same, the hue can differ enough that you can still get a beautiful finished drawing. Color and our perception of it is so, so vastly technically complex. You can not allow yourself to be bogged down by this. Simply practice, and color will become intuitive to you over time. I have a lot more I could say on the subject of picking and using your colors, but this is already insanely long. Feel free to ask any follow up questions, I hope this was of literally any use!

[fixielixie]

10, 11, 16 📑☕

you snooze you lose, ive already answered 10 :/

What character archetype or trope is your favourite?

i loooove characters who fit multiple different archetypes, or who subvert them. like lan wangji being silent and stern on the outside, seeming cold in his assessment of others and situations but as you being to pick apart his character you can see hes extremely emotionally driven with his love for others being one of his main driving forces.

wei wuxina is another good example of a character the emodies multiple different archetypes, with him being the hero/protag, the outcast of society, the joker. a lot of wwxs, in theory, should contradict one another, but only serve to deepen his character. and i do love a character who is good, but willing to make tough choices for the sake of everyone else (the doctor is also a good example of this). taking a character who has a strong moral compass and forcing them to use it in situations where no matter the choice something bad is going to happen, but someone has to make the choice... such a good character moment when done well and wwx has many of these moments in mdzs.

i really do like the classic trope of "you think i hate you but im actually in love with you". just for the big blow out that always comes, and other building tension to the reveal. im basic like that. actually i love anytype of reveal, like wwxs golden core. you know i was waiting for the big fall out to come of when jc and lwj found out. i love most hurt/comfort tropes tbh, am a sucker for angst.

How do you organize your music playlists?

i feel like you already know this about me but i really dont have any organisation for my music playlists dsfkhjdfskhj its a huge mess, i think the most organised it is rn is that ive put all of my '''''indie''''' sounding songs into one big playlist but its kinda a mess now bc i keep adding songs that i randomly refind, so its more of a "omg i forgot this song existed" playlist. i also have a kpop play list where i just chuck every kpop song i like into it, yanno for if im in the mood for it. tho recently ive created an 'upbeat' kpop song playlist dksfhjfkhjd. but other than those, i usually just put on an album i like or hit shuffle on my liked songs.

[fatandnerdy30]

Land of the Avengers chapter 1

So, I said I would be posting to tumblr more often, so I figured that I should start with my reconfigured LotA story...so, here we go!

The beeping of an alarm is the first thing he heard the morning of the week that would change his life forever. Peter yawned as he hit dismiss on his app flashing on his phone’s screen, rolling over again.

“Peter! Come on, time for school!” May’s voice called down the hall, her footsteps pounding through the dorm apartment. “Your breakfast is going to get cold!”

That got the boy moving and five minutes later, as he was making his way toward the kitchen, the melody to wake up the entire academy started playing over the loudspeaker. Peter always woke a little early because he hated being startled awake by the annoying good morning song. He slid into his chair and smiled as May gave him a kiss on top of his head, ruffling his curls. “I’ll be home early today, so you won’t have to cook.”

At that the boy made a face. “Why don’t we just eat in the cafeteria? At least they’re a little edible.”

“Hey!” she said in shock, though amusement could be heard in the tone. “I’ll let you know the headmaster enjoyed my walnut date loaf very much, thank you!”

“He only took it because he wasn’t trying to be rude. Come on, May, your reputation for being a bad cook is pretty infamous in the halls of the school.” He picked up the fried-cake on his plate which was like a plate and stiff as a board for an example.

“All right, I’ll admit I don’t cook that well, but it’s not as bad as all that.” She poked at the stiff fried-cake before she left the room. “And make sure to finish what’s on your plate. Both of them!”

Peter laughed at the joke and just hid the cake in a napkin before throwing it out and racing back to his room. With his door closed, he put a CD into his stereo and started getting ready for the day. Brushing his teeth, he bopped his head back and forth to the beat, his curls bouncing along, which he then fixed. He then quickly put his uniform on and grabbed his homework, the papers filled with elaborate equations and safety protocols that he had to memorize. But, it excited him, because he was closer to becoming an apprentice flight engineer, which was even closer to becoming a pilot! “See you later, May!”

“Bye honey!”

The boy shut the door and practically ran to the school building, throwing open the doors. “Peter!” His best friend’s voice made Peter turn around and a big smile lit up his face.

“Harley, what’s up man?” They grabbed each other’s arms, then slid their hands down then to ‘explode’, making the sounds as their hands separated.

“Nothing much, just wondering why you’re always the first in the halls.” The dark haired boy smirked at him as he slammed Peter’s shoulder playfully.

“I may be first, but you’re always right behind me. Looking to get on Captain Potts’ good side? Because you loooove her?” Peter cackled when Harley’s face went red.

“I do not. I just want to impress her because I think I’m failing.” Harley sighed. “I got a ninety-eight on my last equipment test.” His head hung down as he pouted.

“Oh, ninety-eight…that’s harsh,” Peter joked, stumbling when the other boy pushed him and laughed. “Don’t sweat it, man! You’re one of the smartest kids in the academy, and anyone would be grateful to have you on board.”

“Oh, I know,” Harley joked, puffing his own chest out, but the other boy elbowed him in the chest, making him choke. “Dude! Not cool!” He rubbed his chest, but Peter was laughing too hard to respond.

“What’s so funny Penis?” An annoying voice sobered up both boys and the older of the two stiffened. “Finally get to look in a mirror?” An oily haired student slid in between the two. He wasn’t smarter than Peter, but since the boy’s first day, the bully had been on Peter’s case. Harley said it was because he was jealous, but Peter had no clue why. Flash had everything. He had good grades, two parents, was popular, and rich, everything that Peter had wanted. But, he couldn’t help but feel bad for the bully.

Harley moved, making Peter snap out of his thoughts. The older boy was smirking. “No, we finally got to see you without your makeup, and boy was that hysterical!”

Flash’s face turned red and he balled his fists at his sides, bringing one up. “You’re dead, Keener!” He was about to bring his fist up to Harley’s face, when a hand grabbed him from behind.

“What was that, Mr. Thompson?”

Mr. Barton scowled down at the boy, blue eyes churning like the ocean during a storm. “Did you threaten a fellow student with bodily harm and a death threat?” The man’s chiseled jaw was ticking in his annoyance under his five O'clock shadow.

“N-no!” the bully squeaked, his coffee skin turning a sickly green, brown color. "I-I-I-I-“ He stared at the muscled arm beyond the hand that was holding him half off the ground.

"You were what?” Mr. Barton finally released the boy, watching him stumble back into the lockers. “Get outta here, you little punk. You have detention. With me. After school. Now go.” When the boy stood frozen, the teacher growled. “That’s an order, Cadet Thompson!” Flash jumped and practically ran from the man, not even looking back. “You two okay?”

“Yes, Mr. Barton, sir!” Peter replied, both cadets standing at attention. “Thank you for your assistance.”

The man smirked and clapped both boy’s on the shoulder. “At ease, boys. You’re gonna be late for class. Go ahead.”

The boys smiled and almost ran down the hall to Ms. Potts’ class not noticing Mr. Barton watching them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re late.” Captain Potts stated to the two boys who ran into the classroom, both panting. The woman’s strawberry blonde hair was pulled into a serious bun, highlighting her classic bone structure. Her blue eyes showed her annoyance at being interrupted.

“Sorry Captain!” Peter said in between breaths. “We were detained.”

“Hmm…see that it doesn’t happen again. Now, to your seats. We’re discussing sub-orbital flight and the long term effects on the body.” She waited for the boys to get to their seats, and started. Pepper checked on her students often during her lesson, noting that more than a few looked bored. But, the two students she knew who were paying attention were staring right at the board, pens scribbling like mad as they took notes on every word the Captain said.

“Who can tell me how far up you need to reach sub-orbital flight and feel weightless?” She waited, staring at the company. “Anyone?” Two hands shot into the air and she had to hide a smile. “Harley.”

“One hundred kilometers, Captain, or sixty-two miles above sea level.”

“Very good, Cadet Keiner. Now, extra question, what is that altitude called?” Peter’s hand shot into the air a second before Harley could answer, and this time she couldn’t help but chuckle. “Peter.” “The Karman Line, named after Theodore von Karman, who formulated the idea that at this height was too thin for regular flight. It’s also called the edge of space.”

“Very good, Cadet Parker. I can see someone has paid attention in the past,” Pepper sent a glare to the other cadets, who sat straight at that look. “All of you have a bright future, but you’re not showing that you have the drive to become Pilots for the Reed center….” She sighed. “And because of this, I am telling you that tomorrow there will be a pop quiz on all of this. I’m being nice and letting you know beforehand this way you can come prepared.

"Now, there are twelve long term effects on the body and they are as follows: after about a dozen flights, the pilot’s spine itself stretches, but it doesn’t cause too much pain. It corrects itself in a few months of being on the ground and the pilot can start flying again.

“The second is on too many extra long flights, the muscles of the pilot loses some of their muscle mass. This is why we insist on the pilots being in fit shape in order to stay on, especially those who take long flights that last more than six hours. Please turn to page thirty-two of your books and read the following pages and take notes, until you reach the third effect.”

Silence followed for a long while, everyone focused and taking the appropriate notes until the last page was turned and the students turned their attention to Captain Potts. “Everyone ready to move on? Good. Now, the third effect would be-"The bell rang and the students started packing their bags. She saluted the cadets, who stood altogether and saluted her back. "You’re dismissed.” She watched the kids rush out of the classroom to their next class. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day went by fast, and before he knew it, Peter was in line for lunch, his foot tapping with excess energy from sitting so long listening to teachers drone on and on. He was young and needed to move. After his muscles were tired from hopping in place, he leaned against the window, the smog so thick that the city was barely visible from the sky deck the school was built on. Pollution and factory smog had been getting worse and worse with each passing year until people had to start building homes on top of towers to give them clean air to breathe. But, it happened that only the rich could afford to be in those towers.

Peter remembered living in the smog filled city below and it left some bad health problems like asthma, which was getting better now that he lived in the dorms of the school. If he hadn’t gotten the scholarship, he would still be below that thick cloud, struggling to breathe, or dead.

He noticed the line moving and stepped forward, when someone rammed into his shoulder, causing the boy to cry out and hold the limb. “Oops.” Flash’s annoying voice filled the boy’s ears and he rolled his eyes.

“Just leave me alone, Flash.” Peter was getting tired of the bully’s crap. He rolled his shoulder and winced when it was tender.

“Why should I when you obviously have no one around to protect you. No friends,” the bully looked around. “No teachers.” He then pressed Peter closer to the window, the other students backing away. “And I still owe you for what your boyfriend said to me this morning.” Flash’s eyes hardened. He looked up slightly into Peter’s face. Then, without hesitation, he slammed a fist into Peter’s stomach, causing said boy to double over and gasp for air. “That was just a love tap. You or your boyfriend say anything like that to me again, it’ll be worse.” He turned and walked away, laughing with a few of the other kids pointing at the boy holding his stomach.

Peter lost his appetite after that, so he got off the line and went to the library, grabbing his books out of his locker on the way. The least he could do was get some of the assignments Captain Potts gave them. And wait to see if a bruise formed on his sore ribs, which the way he felt, he was sure about that.

Lost in the pages of a book, Peter barely heard the bell ring. A clearing of a throat made the boy look up, the librarian gesturing to a clock with a smirk. Peter gasped and started packing his books wildly when he heard the chimes for an announcement coming over the loudspeaker.

“Cadets Parker and Keener, to Colonel Richards’ office. Cadets Parker and Keener, to Colonel Richards’ office.” The near robotic voice of the colonel’s secretary rang through the halls. Peter froze as the few students in the library stared at him.

The first thought that came to mind was what did they do wrong? Then it was, did Flash say they started the fight? Or, his overactive brain thought, maybe they did something terribly bad, and they were going to be expelled? Peter shook his head. No, that couldn’t be. It was on video that Flash had hit him.

With a gulp, he stood up and crammed what books and papers he had left, into his backpack, not caring about the state they were in before practically running out of the library. The entire way to the headmaster’s office, the bad thoughts kept running through Peter’s mind, making his heart beat faster and the dread rise farther.

Harley was waiting outside the headmaster’s office. He looked as nervous as Peter did. “What do you think we did?” Peter asked panting, his eyes wide.

“I have no clue, but it can’t be good if we’re being summoned to this office.” The door swung open and Mr. Barton stuck his head out, his eyes softening at the look the two gave him.

“Hey, what’s with the scared looks?”

Harley gulped so loud, even Peter heard it. “We’re ready to accept our punishment for whatever we did, sir,” he said lowly and Peter just looked at the ground. What they weren’t expecting was the laugh coming from Mr. Barton. It started out as a chuckle, and then he was actually holding his middle. “Punishment?” the man cackled. “What made you think you were being punished?”

“W-well,” Peter started, wringing his hands. “No one is called to the Colonel’s office, except for punishment…and the fight Flash caused this morning…” He wasn’t going to mention the fight-if you could call it that- which the headmaster probably had seen on the security cams.

“Don’t even mention that little creep’s name to me. I still have plans for him in detention. But, don’t worry, you were called here for something good. Promise.” He stepped aside and ushered the cadets inside. Instantly they stood straight at attention, saluting the dark haired man sitting behind the desk, Mr. Barton following.

“The cadets you wanted, Sir.”

“Ahh, thank you, Clint. At ease.” Colonel Richards sat back, his elbows on his desk. “Peter and Harley, correct?” He couldn’t miss the way the two seemed to tremble in his presence.

“Y-yes sir,” Harley nodded.

“Good. I’ve been looking into your grades and I must say I am very impressed. Normally, when we do have scholarship students, they slack off once they’re in the school.” It didn’t happen very often, and Peter and Harley both had stunning grades to go with their scholarships. “But, not you two. And that impressed me.” He smiled at the look the boys gave him.

“It impressed me so much, that I’ve decided to let you two take the flight simulation for real. The only placement I could get for the both of you though, was next week.” The room became silent from the news, both boys staring at him slack jawed.

“I don’t expect you to be flying alone, though. Mr. Barton and Captain Potts have both agreed to be with you on the flight. You both are allowed to take one extra person of your choosing to take with you. It will be a week long excursion. Consider it a reward for your hard work this year.”

The boys smile’s grew brighter and they looked at one another excitedly. “It’s an honor, Colonel, Sir!” Peter said, his voice cracking in his excitement, making him turn red.

“Yes, this is a great honor, Sir.” Harley said, his face so serious, it made Reed chuckle.

“Calm down, Cadet Keiner. But, I will warn you,” his face turned serious, “that this is also a test proving the two of you will be capable pilots and your futures are riding on this.”

Peter and Harley both trembled at that, but saluted the man with a loud 'Yes Sir!’

“Study hard, and try and get as much Simulation time as you need. In fact, I’ll open the Baxter building to the both of you, this way you’ll have state of the art simulators to work with.”

To say the boys were shocked was an understatement. The Baxter building? “I-it’s truly an honor, Sir!” Peter said, his face beaming.

“I’ll have your passes ready for you by tomorrow. You’re dismissed.” Both boys slammed their heels together and saluted before exiting the room.

“We get to go to the top floor of the Baxter Building!” Peter cried as soon as they were out of the Colonel’s office. His young eyes were sparkling with wonder and excitement. “I’ve always wanted to see what they do up there! I’ve heard that they’ve been working on actual space flight! How crazy is that? We might get to go to the moon someday, maybe farther! We may even discover a new planet! How cool would that be!”

Harley listened with a soft smile. His younger friend always got this way when talking about the science of space flight and or chemistry. "It would be so cool. You gonna be the first to step on the moon?“ he ruffled Peter’s hair, cackling.

"I just might!” Peter said indignantly.

“I’m sure you will, bud. Come on, we’ll be late for Harrington’s class, and you know him and his stories if you’re late.” Harley slung his arm around Peter’s shoulders and tugged him towards the classrooms.