#i get that they maybe wanted to like. better accentuate some info that's just been revealed to us regarding the nature of the deaths

[just-miru]

another is so silly i really love it

[softcallofdutyimagines]

More Then a Woman | Frank Woods x Fem!Reader | Chapter 5

Summary:

I once again expose myself for being into older men, and you and Woods go on your first date

Tags: Slow burn, fluff, age difference

Chpt 1 | Chpt 2 | Chpt 3 | Chpt 4 | Chpt 6 | Warnings: strong language and some age difference, in case you don't like that

“Anyway, can I help you with something?”

Your friendly voice and sweet smile pull him out of his thoughts. Frank looks down at you, and instantly lets his nerves get the better of him. This was a mistake from the beginning.

He looks away, attempting to mask his insecurities with a gruff exterior, “Uh, it’s nothing. Sorry, may-”

“Oh no no, it’s fine, really! I just have to deliver these papers and then I can be right with you”, you smile encouragingly, and then… he decides to stay. More due to the fact that he feels unable to say no to you rather than by his own resolve, however.

He’ll have to watch out for that.

So he waits. There’s exactly one other chair in your office, a squat cube shaped thing sitting on the other side of your desk. Clearly this is something you own and brought in, rather than a piece of furniture that was given to you like that plain old black office chair behind your desk. The chair looks like it was brightly colored once, and smacks of something salvaged from the early 70s and dragged into the modern era. Still, it’s rather comfortable despite the faded, slightly sagging state of it.

Frank traces his fingers up and down the angular arm rest, thinking of you. You know, now that he’s had the chance to look around… There’s actually quite a few things of the past in here. He sees a bulky old camera and even a typewriter tastefully displayed amongst a few other nik naks on your shelves, both of which look like they were rolled out around the time he was just a child.

For a moment, he feels uncomfortable again and far too old to be trying something like this with you. But then, the anxiety is washed away with the musing that perhaps…. You like old things.

He can’t help but huff a laugh at that. A wishful thought on his part, maybe, and yet… not completely untrue.

“What’s so funny?”, your curious voice pulls him out of his thoughts as you suppress a small laugh of your own.

“Huh? Oh, nothing just… That camera’s gotta be older than I am”, he chuckles and points to the black box of a thing just above you. “What are you doing with a piece of junk like that anyway?”, he laughs.

You gasp in mock hurt, “It’s not junk! It works!” Suddenly you seem to grow quite excited, trotting up to retrieve the object in question. Cradling it carefully, you swing around your desk and take a seat on the hardwood, showing off your treasure, “This is a Kodak Cartridge Hawk-Eye from 1926!” You enunciate the date excitedly as though it were a relic from the dinosaur days, meanwhile all Woods can think of is that that was only a mere four years before he was born.

For a few minutes longer, you go on giving a whole info dump on all you know about the little device, wave upon wave of building excitement adding to your voice and before long, Frank finds himself being swept up in it all. No offence, but… he really doesn’t give a single fuck about the camera. But, the way it has you grinning bright as sunshine. The electric spark in your eyes. The way you give his arm a gentle touch to brace him for what you seem to think is a very riveting fact…

He would listen to you talk about that damn thing all day, just to see you like this.

Before he knows it, the lecture is over and he couldn’t be more disappointed. You shake your head, just now realizing you’ve gone off on a tangent once again. “Ugh, sorry…”, you laugh it off and go to put it away, “I just get so excited about my antiques. I love that stuff, you know? Anyway, before I go off again… What was it you wanted to see me for?”

Suddenly, Frank can feel his heart clench tight. He had almost forgotten why he came, and now… he’s wishing you would’ve too.

“Oh? Uh, why… Why did I-? Uh… Yeah, um, so-”

Damn it! He never thought he’d say this, but he’d rather be in a gunfight right now. Anything then this… juvenile, high school shit. You’ve since returned to your spot on the edge of your desk. Despite his highly suspicious stuttering, your expression remains polite and even encouraging as you wait for him to formulate a coherent sentence.

While his mind reels for some sort of excuse, anything to get him out of this situation he’s dug for himself, his nervous gaze lands on the very last thing it needs to right now. Your eyes are glittering in this afternoon light. Do you know that?, he thinks. You’ve locked eyes right back at him, but the situation is anything but awkward. He appreciates the way that you aren’t afraid of him. That you’re willing to show him patience and understanding… Like he’s a fucking human being, instead of some crazy old veteran that you’re just indulging until you can finally get rid of him.

The longer he looks back at you, the more and more he can feel the tension melting out of him. Each muscle in his body slowly but surely unclenches, allowing him to relax at last as he leans back into his seat. He can’t lie to you. You don’t deserve that.

Damn it…

Frank breaks eye contact at last. He flexes his hand gently, working out the nervous energy, as he makes a fist. “I uh… I was just wondering if, maybe… you wanted to get coffee sometime…”

Immediately he braces for… well, he’s not sure what exactly, but rejection for sure. He closes his eyes so he can’t see the disgusted face you must be making, and all the muscles he’d just set at ease jump back into bands of iron across his chest, tensed so tight, he feels like his heart might stop. It’s only been a few seconds, but it feels like years have passed when you finally respond…

“Sure! What time would work for you?”

His eyes snap open as he jerks his head around to look at you, not entirely sure he heard you right. But then… there’s that same, sunny smile and electrified eyes that tell him you mean it.

“I-I uh…”, and just like that, he snaps out of it. Woods sits up straight, fixing a strand of hair that’s strayed from its place, and grinning excitedly himself. He hasn’t felt like this in… years. “W-well what time would work for you? I’m sure as shit not doing anything”, he laughs.

You think for a moment, “Oh! Say, do you go for a run on Saturdays too?”

Pft, not lately. “Yeah! Why?”

You light up, “Great! Tell you what, let's meet up and we can go for a run together then hit that coffee shop we met at last time. Would that be alright? Could be fun!”

As though you even needed to ask, he’s already agreeing. The two of you make some more concrete plans like the wheres and whens specifically before preparing to head your separate ways. You stop him and scribble down your number on a torn sheet of paper. “Just in case”, you smile. “And hey… Loser pays”, you break out into laughter.

“Oh yeah?”, he smiles back, “Don’t think I’ll go fucking easy on you!”, he calls, half way down the hall by now as you wave him off.

When you’ve retreated out of sight, Woods takes a look around. Alone again. Good. He reaches into his pocket and gingerly retrieves the slip of paper. Over and over again he reads and re-reads the chicken scratch handwriting you’ve produced. To him, it’s wonderful.

By the time he gets to his car, he feels like he knows that number better than his own dog tag ID. He slips the precious sheet into his wallet, the first of a few select reminders of you that he’ll keep safe in there.

As the few short days go by, he waits restlessly until he can see you again. And finally… Finally, Saturday morning comes.

5:26 am, and he’s up before his alarm. He doesn’t even need to check the digital clock to see what day it is. He already knows as he jumps out of bed and races to get ready. In no time at all he meets you early at the nearby park you agreed to meet at. You’ve come prepared in your high tops, short shorts, and nylon catsuit. Stylish and modern, but thankfully not as over the top as what the fashion industry would have you in.

It takes every ounce of willpower within him to keep his eyes up.

“Ready?”, you stretch your arms up high, only accentuating your body as you do so.

Frank can feel himself turning red as he status out an affirmative, earning… is that a smirk? from you.

“Alright then, ready… set…”, without warning you bolt off for a head start.

“Hey!”

He wants to be mad, but… He’s just having too much fun, damn it. About half way through, it’s a fair race, and although he’s beating you it’s not by that much. Once he’s proved to himself that he’s still got it, Woods allows himself to fall back, giving you the ego boost you need to stick it out and sprint to the finish, tired as you are.

Frank trots to a stop behind you shortly, only slightly more out of breath then you are. He may have let you win, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t give him hell in the first half.

“Cheater”, you give his shoulder a light punch and a knowing look.

“Me?”, he laughs, ignoring the accusation that he would ever let someone else beat him in a competition, “What do you call that stun at the start?”

You merely laugh, wiping some sweat from your brow as you head towards the door of the coffee shop. The bell chimes as you enter and walk up to the counter together. You place your orders, and Frank pays. You wait in silence for your orders, merely taking the time to completely catch your breath.

Drinks and breakfast in hand, you sit by the large bay windows together. The sun has just peeked over the horizon, filling the room with a golden glow. A halo of light shines around you, catching every perfect curve and angle you have to offer as you grace him with your presence. The food and coffees are nearly forgotten as you both get caught up talking about everything and nothing all at once. Conversation topics turn and change like leaves in the wind, easily transitioning from one to the other as you slowly yet surely get to really know one another.

Frank is on the edge of his seat, waiting eagerly to hear what you have to say next as he talks with you. It’s the most excited he’s been to hear someone else drone on and on in his entire life. By the time you’re both feeling talked out, the sun is well on it’s way to rising and the morning dew has since evaporated.

But, it doesn’t matter. How could he ever feel time was wasted when it was spent with you?

The two of you walk back towards the park, making sure to take it slow so you can get the most out of what little time you have left together.

“And then I said, ‘Looks don't count for shit in the jungle. This is 'Nam baby!’ “

You burst out laughing, “Did you really? And then what happened!”

He grins, “Well, the- Oh, wait, we’re uh, we’re here…”

The two of you stop at the edge of the parking lot. It’s practically empty aside from your lone car only a stone’s throw away. At that, the mirth seeps from you as well as you agree.

“Well… I guess… thanks. I had fun, you know”, Frank turns to face you, hoping more than anything that you enjoyed yourself as well.

“Yeah, me too!”, that familiar little smile that he’s grown so fond of slowly makes its way back. “Maybe… Maybe we could do this again sometime?”

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise, “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Besides,”, you act on a jolt of courage, stretching up on the tips of your toes to press a little kiss to his rough, stubbly cheek, “you have to tell me the rest of your story”

You lick your lip and give it a little nervous bite as you shyly take his hand in yours for comfort.. It feels huge, more like a bear paw than a human hand, compared to yours. “Well… See you later…”, you turn and begin to back away, holding his hand until you can no longer reach, forcing you to let go. You offer him one last smile, but all he can do is stand there, frozen amongst a roar of emotions.

Woods lifts a hand to his cheek, reverently caressing the spot your lips touched. The depth, breadth, and complexity of feeling circling in his mind are far too much for him to ever put into words. But, out of them all, one rings out loud and clear. He’s so, so…

Happy.

[jay-the-angst-king]

Hero Info Pages Part 2

Something I’ve always found interesting are the hero info pages for Overwatch characters. There’s a lot of details in these clips that either set up a trend that follows the hero’s character, a trend about the overarching struggles in Overwatch, or seemingly have no foundation in the lore but most certainly can be entertaining to think about how it could fit in the lore. 

Part 1 can be found here.

Soldier is very straight forward, and we can see that in his Ultimate.

Tac Visor shows Soldier attacking Reaper first, then Widowmaker, then Hanzo. What I take from this is that Soldier prioritizes Talon above other criminals, and prioritizes Reaper above other members of Talon. I actually really like the composition of Reaper in front, Widow just outside of the circle, and Hanzo way off to the side, because this composition is half of why the clip is important.

For both the primary fire and the Helix Rockets, Reaper is the target. Soldier’s entire story and motivation is hunting Reaper down.

The clip for Soldier’s Biotic Field also confirms that he still has a sense of helping others and allies as he heals Tracer, Winston, and McCree. The location for all the clips is Dorado, which refers back to his cinematic, Hero, where he helped the little girl. Both of these things reinforces that Soldier is still a hero at heart even if he’s a “man on a mission” and that mission is Reyes.

Mercy’s hero info page is incomplete. That’s something to note. The clips are old clips and don’t change with updates to the game. Some abilities are not visually shown how they work. You just get a description and that’s it. For Mercy, there are no clips for her Ultimate Valkyrie, or her Resurrect ability.

With that in mind, there are still clips for her staff, blaster, and Guardian Angel which showcase other heroes.

Mercy uses Guardian Angel to fly up to Tracer, and she heals Tracer with her Caduceus Staff. When she uses left click, Tracer is attacking Reinhardt.

Now, I don’t particularly think that Angela has anything against Rein. I think this can be explained away as training or testing out new equipment because they are on Gibraltar.

However, I think that showing Roadhog rather than Reinhardt would have fit better for these clips considering that Mercy uses her Caduceus Blaster to shoot down Junkrat, a criminal.

Echo is the newest character in the game, and her hero info shows some interesting things.

Firstly, her Tri-Shot primary fire shows her attacking Tracer and Reaper. I can’t explain this as training since it’s in the same clip. Echo is not training with Reaper anytime soon.

So why is Echo attacking Tracer in this clip? Maybe it’s to show that Echo can lean one way or another depending on how she grows as a character. She is a constantly learning AI program. It can also be yet another metaphor for AI programs going rogue. Mina Liao, the scientist who made Echo, infused some of herself into Echo’s creation. Dr. Liao was also the one who created the omnics in the first place, and the omnics had gone rogue after years of mistreatment which started the Omnic Crisis.

Echo attacking both Tracer and Reaper could hint at more omnic uprising, or just another memory of the first Omnic Crisis and subsequent Omnic Uprising as seen in King’s Row.

Her Ultimate Duplicate is fascinating. From left to right, Echo is against Sigma, Doomfist, Tracer, Moira, and Roadhog.

Echo Duplicates Tracer, then shoots Roadhog for ult charge, and sticks Tracer to kill the other four. I’m not about to say that Echo dislikes Tracer. That’s just not what’s up here. Tracer is being used here because the community is very comfortable with Tracer, and Echo was new. They wanted to display this ult with someone they knew the community would understand.

That being said… What could this mean?

I think that we could read this clip as Echo accidentally killing or hurting a teammate. That would be awful and sad, but better than the second idea that Echo would sacrifice a teammate just to catch the criminals.

Her Sticky Bombs kill Sombra and Hanzo, and her Focusing Beam finishes Roadhog. This all takes place on Gibraltar, which I think helps accentuate that she’s new and learning. Route 66, where we first met her in the Reunion Cinematic, would have been a nice map to showcase her abilities, too, but they choose Gibraltar, probably to reinforce the fact that she is apart of the new Overwatch team thanks to the Recall.

Hey, Tracer, why are you shooting Zenyatta?

There’s two reasons I can place for Zenyatta being Tracer’s opponent when showcasing Tracer’s abilities. The first is the overarching theme of omnics versus humans, and that theme really permeates when shown repeatedly on King’s Row where we know Mondatta was assassinated and an Omnic Uprising occurred.

Her Ultimate only calls back to the Mondatta assassination as Tracer attaches a Pulse Bomb to Zenyatta, and it kills Widowmaker and Hanzo as well.

Widowmaker and Hanzo, you say? Widowmaker, the one who killed Mondatta, and Hanzo, another known sniper and assassin?

It seems to me that these clips are not meant to show Tracer’s allegiances, but more to continue the themes we see throughout Overwatch. These clips only hammer home the stories we already knew. A sniper killed Mondatta, a prominent speaker and activist, and King’s Row is home to omnic and human tensions.

Lucio has a whole info page about helping Overwatch, who will become his new friends. To start, Lucio uses Sound Barrier to gives shields to Tracer and Soldier.

There’s not much to say about that on its own, so let’s continue on.

Lucio uses both Crossfade and Amp It Up to heal and speed up Tracer, but he uses his Sonic Amplifier and Soundwave against Winston.

I think this is Lucio showing the Overwatch team his gear and how he can be helpful on missions with them. That would explain the full Overwatch hero cast in his clips. Lucio himself is a hero of his hometown, and we know with the upcoming Overwatch 2 that Lucio and the recalled team are buddies and working together. It makes sense that Lucio would take some time to show his new friends how his gear works.

Reinhardt is, thankfully, relatively quick to talk about.

His primary target in his clips? It’s Hanzo. Hanzo is a mercenary, an assassin, a criminal, but he’s not apart of Talon. The reason I say this is because Reinhardt is specifically attacking a criminal with no interest in Talon because Reinhardt was still working after leaving Overwatch. His work switched from fighting rogue AI and Talon to fighting regular criminals like Hanzo.

That’s doesn’t mean that he’s not going to attack Talon.

Reinhardt uses his Earth Shatter to stun Reaper, Hanzo, and Widowmaker, so he obviously will still attack Talon even if he’s no longer an Overwatch member.

Hardest thing to explain in these clips is the setting of King’s Row. Really, I think the only reason Reinhardt wasn’t placed on, say, Eichenwalde, was because Eichenwalde came out after the game’s release. So there just wasn’t a better map for Reinhardt at the time. Still, King’s Row isn’t a bad place considering that there was an omnic uprising there and Reinhardt was one of the heroes who went on that mission.

Ana... I love you, Ana, but what’s happening here? Ana’s clips are buck wild. I don’t know where to begin. I’ll add a Read More, since this is so long already.

I guess we start with Biotic Rifle. Firstly, she heals Reinhardt, and then she kills Soldier. When zoomed in, she heals Tracer, and only shoots Pharah twice, not enough to kill.

What a lot to unpack.

I think this shows that she’s good friends with Reinhardt, just as they have been for years. She is the only one of Reinhardt’s friends to apologize to him about faking her death after all. Attacking Soldier and killing him could be a sign that Ana and Soldier, though friends, do not share the same thoughts about something. My guess is that Ana thinks Soldier’s mission is too much for him, that she thinks he needs to stop before he gets himself killed. That does align with more recent releases where Ana is helping him but also checking him when Solder pushes too hard. Healing Tracer seems obvious since Ana is still a healer and Tracer is a well respected hero, but attacking Pharah is interesting. I think Ana attacking her daughter is actually a figurative way of saying that the two don’t get along. Ana doesn’t kill Pharah, just injures her, and I think this is there to show their strained relationship even though Ana still cherishes her daughter.

Much of everything after this is speculation. Like I said, Ana’s clips are wild.

Ana sleeps Zarya. Perhaps this is to show that Ana, an old soldier, is tired herself. I think targeting a younger soldier like Zarya implies that Ana thinks the fighting and wars are exhausting. Maybe this is Ana not so subtly telling the younger soldier that they need to take care of themselves, too, much like she gets on Soldier about him talking care of himself.

The Biotic Grenade is wild. She smashes the grenade at Lucio, Winston, and Roadhog to show the healing properties, but then uses it offensively against D.Va to show that Mercy can’t heal the mech. This entire clip has thrown me for a loop. I can’t particularly explain it.

Perhaps she heals Roadhog because Roadie was once a soldier in ALF, and she can not blame him or others like him who attacked omnics to defend themselves back in the day. Perhaps they might have met back then, which I think would have been interesting to explore. But then why hinder D.Va’s healing? Maybe she thinks D.Va, a 19 year old, shouldn’t be fighting on the front lines. Ana views her as a child, just like Soldier and Reaper do, and thinks that Hana shouldn’t have to fight wars for adults.

I think Mercy being the one healing D.Va is a reference to Mercy disliking how Ana uses Mercy’s research in a weapon like the Biotic Rifle. This puts them at odds with one another. On the other side, Lucio is likely there to show the amplified healing from the grenade, but maybe this also shows that Ana respects Lucio as a hero. Finally, Winston was an old friend.

Lastly, her Ultimate, Nano Boost. She Boosts Reinhardt, and Reinhardt kills McCree, Zenyatta, Tracer, and Soldier.

Ana deserves her own post at this point. Why are they attacking these four people? Ana just healed Tracer with her rifle not too long ago.  For this bizarre clip, I have no reasoning, so lets see what this COULD mean.

I could explain this as Overwatch tearing itself apart. In this case, four of the five people in this fight are Overwatch members, and that only leaves Zenyatta. Maybe killing Zenyatta here is the representation of harmony and diplomacy being broken.

Perhaps this is more about Ana and Rein than it is about the opponents. Maybe Ana’s faked death made Rein incredibly upset. Maybe this clip represents Rein never letting it go. Maybe Rein, for a while, blamed Overwatch (represented by Soldier and Tracer) and Blackwatch (represented by McCree) for her death. Again, Zen’s death would represent a lack of harmony.

Overall, these are my thoughts on this set of characters. There are still over half of the cast left, and I think the remaining Talon members are next.

[twstismymuse]

Hello hello!!

First ever post!! Yay!!

This is a little piece I whipped up after getting inspired browsing through pinterest

(Yes i use pinterest they actually have pretty good stuff on there)

Anyways this scenario features my Professor oc, Kathryne Bones ☠️

She’s twisted from Captain Hook and I’ll have more on her soon!

In the meantime, enjoy my pirate queen kicking misogyny right in the dick!!

{Title: A Valuable Lesson}

{Summary: Professor Bones puts a few narrow minded students in their place through a hands on demonstration.}

{Warnings: Misogyny, degrading comments, strong language, objectification}

(Pssst, some character info has been updated here)

—————————————————————

It was supposed to be smooth sailing for her. It had only been a week since Kathryne Bones was recognized as a professor and Geography was added to the curriculum at the esteemed NRC and she couldn’t have been happier. Sure she’d had to push and shove to be able to secure the position of a professor at the college, but the college had only recently begun it’s transformation as a co-ed school and the pure fact that she got the job was a feat in itself as a respected educator. There were doubts about her “qualifications” to be a teacher, but Kathryne was determined to break through those boundaries and prove she could teach a class filled with young boys as good as any man.

Kathryne adored her students and wanted to push them to be the best they could be! Geography was an essential subject, to learn not only about the world they inhabited but the people in Twisted Wonderland as well.

She really thought she would be able to gain their respect.

For the most part, it was adorable seeing the looks on their faces when she walked into the classroom and introduced herself as their new professor.

“Welcome boys! My name is Kathryne Bones and I’ll be your Geography professor. I trust that we’ll be able to get along and you lot won’t feel too put off by me. Savvy?”

“...”

“I’m asking you all if you understand.”

“Ohhhhh…”

The first half of class went swimmingly. Many of the students asked genuinely interesting questions and gave insightful responses. They paid close attention when she pulled up a map of Twisted Wonderland and began pointing out key locations.

“As we can see, the Afterglow Savannah’s absolute location-”

“You should bend over a little more!”

Her metal finger paused and hovered over the labeled country on the map. It took her a moment to fully comprehend what had happened as the sound of snickering and cruel laughter echoed throughout the classroom.

“Or better yet, show us your tits!”

“Doesn’t this school have a dress code? A teacher shouldn’t be walking around in clothes like that, you know.”

“Showing that much skin on the job?”

“Maybe she’s some pirate whore-”

Kathryne kept her back turned toward the chalkboard, yet several students spoke up in her defense.

“Hey, assholes!! The fuck is wrong with you, she’s tryna teach us here!!” A boy with bright red hair and a heart painted on his right eye snarled at the group.

“That is no way to treat a professor, much less a lady!!” A student with slicked back hair and pointed brows barked.

Ace Trappola and Sebek Zigvolt, her brain helpfully offered.

“Come on! What was the school thinking letting a female professor teach at NRC?” One of the ruffians, a Heartslaybul ribbon around his arm, scoffed and reclined in his seat while his friends sniggered. A student with violet hair and soft blue eyes, glared daggers at them and spoke loudly.

“Professor Bones is just trying to do her job, it's very rude to-”

“Please Felmier, in that get up? My dad was right when he said NRC was really going to the dogs-”

“It seems to me, lad, that your father has a rather narrow mindset.”

“Eh?”

Kathryne turned around, a brilliant sickly sweet beam on her face as she moved towards the center of the classroom.

“What did you say about my-”

“I’d like to know what gives you the right to question my authority and not only that, but disrupt my lesson. Is it because you feel the need to say something? Well, the floor is yours now. Do enlighten all of us on what exactly your father has to say about NRC’s reputation.”

The student paused, thrown off guard by the unwanted spotlight suddenly cast on him and the eyes that were watching him and his friends.

He gulped before attempting to maintain his composure, “W-well...he...he said that he didn’t know what the headmaster was thinking, bringing in a woman to teach us-”

“So, just to fully comprehend what you’re saying...your father believes that simply because I am a member of the opposite sex, I’m not able to teach a class filled with males?”

“Well-”

“Look at what you’re wearing though!! What kind of respectable teacher would go around looking like that? It’s distracting! My mother never wears clothes like that!” One of the boy’s friends, an Ingihyde student, came to his aid.

“...I see. Yes, I understand completely!” She clapped her hands together and her eyes sparkled, “Students! I just had the most wonderful idea! Why don’t we try a more hands-on approach~?”

Beckoning the Heartslaybul student forward with her finger she called, “Could you come down here please?”

Confusion and befuddlement visible on everyone’s faces as the young man came forward as instructed.

“Yes, just stand riiiiight there, perfect! Now as for me…” Walking over to the desks, she squeezed past the boys and sat right in the empty seat left by the Heartslaybul student. “Alright, now I want you to go to the board and I want you to pick up my lesson right where we left off, can you do that?”

He hesitantly nodded and turned around to face the wide map. Kathryne nudged one of the male’s friends on her left and gave a sly wink just as the boy started talking.

“Um, well...the Afterglow Savannah is located at uh-”

“Hey, why don’t you bend over a little more? I can’t see your ass all that clearly, sailor.”

He paused while much of the class began snickering under their breaths as the boy’s friends fidgeted in their seats.

“Or better yet, why don’t you just rip your shirt off for me?”

He turned his head slightly, visibly embarrassed and uncomfortable with her cajoling.

“You shouldn’t be walking around with your shirt unbuttoned like that, you’re showing way too much skin during school hours, you know. And your pants are far too tight, I can practically see your bulge through them. I mean really, what were you thinking walking around like that?”

She looked around enthusiastically, yet the male’s friends avoided her eyes, the Ignihyde student scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

“What’s wrong? You all were so enthusiastic when I was in your mate’s position? Why won’t you join in?”

They remained silent, yet she pressed, “Go on, tell me, I’m listening.”

“...B-because it’s-”

“Uncomfortable? Derogatory? Demeaning? You all seemed like you were having a jolly good time speaking to me that way, objectifying my body and criticizing my outfit though. What changed?”

“Your...sh-shirt…”

“How is my shirt different from his? We’re both showing a bit of skin, yet you feel the need to tell me and not him to cover up?”

“It’s because of...of...”

“Don’t be shy now, I want to hear it.”

“Your...your chest-”

“Ahhhh, I see. Yes, I mustn't let anyone see any hint of the tissue overlying my pectoral muscles. They’re not at all nearly the same in terms of our biology, isn’t that correct?”

“...”

Kathryne carried on as she stood up and made her way back to the floor, “Isn’t it funny how as a matter of fact, Professor Crewel who I know you all hold in great respect, also is fond of wearing form fitting clothes that accentuate his assets yet not one of you seem keen on interrupting his lesson by shouting obscenities at him? What makes my fashion choice different from his? These are the clothes I feel comfortable in, clothes that I feel confident in, yet you lot want to try and bring me down by calling me a whore. I bet you all wouldn’t be so quick to critique me if I told all of you to cover up from head to toe because seeing your uniforms is distracting to me. How would that make you all feel?”

There was no answer, a slight muttering under hushed tones and an uneasy silence filling the air.

“You have no right to tell me what to do with my body and how I decide to dress. You’re all here to learn, not to jack off in the middle of my class to the busty school teacher. I’ll have you know, this is the very same outfit I wore when I commandeered the fiercest crew of buccaneers the seven seas had ever seen. This is the outfit I demanded respect from them in and it will be the outfit you will respect me in. Savvy?”

“Yes…”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, Professor Bones.”

“Excellent. Now, let’s get back to the lesson. As for you four…” Her gaze landed on the group, a smirk on her lips seeing how shaken they looked. “I’ll be reporting this behavior to each of your dorm heads as well as the Headmaster and they’ll deal with you properly. I’m not fond of dishing out punishments like Professor Crewel, but I happen to know Heartslaybul in particular is a real stickler for the rules.”

“Let’s see…” She mused, turning her attention back to the map. “Who can tell me the Afterglow Savannah’s absolute location?”

Perhaps her academic career wouldn’t be as difficult as she thought.

[minlucent]

standard exploit (m)

➾ pairing: reader x kim taehyung

➾ word count: 2.7k

➾ genre:  smut, pwp but what’s new tbh, ceo’s son!au

➾ warnings: explicit sex, choking (breath play), degradation, fingering, overstimulation, unprotected sex, dirty talk, mild drinking of alcohol,

➾ summary: your plan to get info on the scandal surrounding a big company goes differently than planned when you meet the ceo’s son

➾ a/n: um this fic got deleted for some reason so im reposting!! pls don’t let this flop my dudes // side note: i in no way am trying to say that journalists sleep with who they are reporting on to get information,, I am sure they are all hard-working individuals who are respectful and considerate. This is just my mind being dirty and looking for anything to make even the slightest bit of a plotline

You pretty much had one goal in mind; get the information you came for and get out of there; as a journalist, you didn’t want anyone to know your approach and get the information before you. You didn’t want to come off as a scouter for information, because Mr. Kim, who was celebrating the 10th anniversary of his company tonight, would obviously not tell you anything.  If you acted innocent, like you were just at the grand ballroom of his mansion for a good time, he wouldn’t think twice about opening his mouth and spilling what you so desperately needed.  

Your editor was keen on you getting this information but wasn’t as excited about the methods you planned on using to get it. You had been working as partners for years, and he knew your ways, but although he knew that ethically, it wasn’t professional, it got the job done. He often just turns a blind eye at how you get the information from the source. After all, that’s why your organization is the most renowned in news; you break the stories that need to be told. With the flow of your words, you made empires and monopolies fall, just because you understood how men in power worked.  

The dress code was simple: formal, but professional. You put on a simple, pretty black dress that was short but long enough to leave some to the imagination, high black pumps and some pretty red lingerie.  To top off the sultry look you were going for, you painted on a deep, blood-red liquid lip, as you peered in your bathroom mirror, blotting your lips with a tissue, you decide to make things a little risky for the night.  Maybe you should forego the bra today.

You had a professional invite to the event, due to your position at the notable newspaper. You entered the elegant ballroom, lavishly decorated, and began to blend into the crowd. Men in charge of multi-billion dollar companies are easy to seduce, and you knew that you could easily get the information you needed with the bat of your eyes.

You spotted the CEO, Mr. Kim, talking a young man, who was looking rather bored you might add, that you’ve never seen before. He was stunning, with perfect facial features and a great build. Perhaps rather than getting what you need from a middle-aged man, you could get to know the handsome man better. Killing two birds with one stone.

Perhaps you were staring, because he suddenly turned away from the conversation with the CEO and locked eyes with you. You immediately looked away, cursing to yourself as you didn’t want to seem too obvious in your intentions.

You made your way to an empty standing table and looked back to see the same man walking towards you, two glasses of champagne in hand.

“No bra? Not very professional if you ask me.”

You looked down, shocked that he could tell so easily, but once you saw your nipples were hard and visible under the dark dress, you shook your head, laughing at yourself. “Formal dresses these days make it difficult to wear a bra with them,” was all you responded.  

“Fair enough. I’m not complaining.” He held one glass of champagne out for you as he began to sip on the other, but you took the one that was against his mouth for yourself. He raised an eyebrow at you, “The other one wasn’t drugged, I promise. I’m Taehyung by the way.”

“A woman can never be too safe,” you shrugged. “I’m Y/N; nice to meet you. So, I saw you talking to Mr. Kim, the man of the night.”

“Ugh, don’t praise him like that. My father is not half the man the media builds him up to me.”

His father is Mr. Kim? You knew he had a son your age but you didn’t expect him to be this handsome. However, thinking about it, they do have similar features.  There are many striking similarities.

You tried to hide your excitement; this is exactly what you wanted. “Not a very proud son, huh?”

“That’s one way to look at it,” he shook his head. “I should probably stay quiet about it though, or else I’ll get banned from coming to events like these. I can’t miss out on the drinks.” He downed half the glass. “No, but really, I’m only here for him to look like a wholesome family man, nothing else.”

You were slightly shocked how easily he was spilling his opinion on his father. Was he already drunk? You really didn’t expect things to go this easily.

You were pulled from your thoughts when he cleared his throat. “Don’t act so innocent. I know who you are and what you do.” You widened your eyes, slightly taken aback. You opened your mouth to defend yourself when he spoke again. “You’re Y/N Y/L/N. You flirt and seduce men to get them to spill information about their companies and end up destroying their career, but I seem to be the only person who knows that. Or, people don’t want to admit they so easily fell for your feminine wiles and told you everything you needed to know.” You felt your face get red and look away. You feel his hand on your jaw, making you look directly at him.

“Don’t worry. I’m not judging. In fact, I would love it if you would get your latest story about my father by working with me,” he raised his eyebrows and smirked at you, accentuating the word, giving it a double meaning.  

You grinned up at him. “Oh really? You know, once I publish the story, his career will be ruined. I’m able to do that easily. My name is very reputable. And I’m sure I can do more than just work with you,” you teased back.

“I know. I don’t approve of his methods. The way he profits off of others is despicable. He’s rude and inconsiderate towards anyone who he sees as below him; I’ve tried to get him to step down countless times.” His hand trailed up your arm, “And this way, I get to spend a night with a gorgeous woman and expose how he cheats all of his clients and workers without getting my hands dirty. As long as you don’t mention my name in the article, I’d say we have a pretty good deal; I saw the way you were staring at me. I’m sure you want me to have my way with you, don’t you?”

“You read my mind. But, I think we can save the business side of things for tomorrow, what do you say?”

His hand, firmly planted on the small of your back, led you up the stairs and through a long hallway. No words were spoken as he led you to the room at the end of the hall; you don’t wait more than a second before you turned on the lights and put your hands on his collar and are pulling him towards you. His large hands grope your ass and he backs you into the room until your legs hit the bed and you fall back. You grin up at his figure standing above you as his hands roam your body; slowly, his lips are lowered to yours as he wraps his arms around your waist. Taehyung has one hand grasping your waist while the other slowly moves up to your chest, to your throat.

He only touches the skin lightly, let you moan and reach for his wrist; covering his fingers with yours, you squeeze his hand over your throat as you gasp, “Choke me.”

He curses as he does as you ask, closing his fingers around your throat while he pushes up the skirt of your dress. “Tsk, tsk. You’ve soaked yourself, huh? You’re a little whore aren’t you?” He doesn’t expect an answer as he takes two fingers from his free hand and rubs the wet spot on your soiled panties. You whimper as he plunges his fingers basically inside of you while ruining your fine lace lingerie. You feel your hips rut up against his fingers, but he stands in between your legs and presses his thighs into yours, keeping you pinned to the bed.  

You feel the desperate need to have his fingers inside of you and without words, you are begging him to take off your panties and finger fuck you mercilessly. Your eyes meet with his and you just know he can see the desperation in your eyes; with you rutting your hips up, trying to get any sort of friction, he smirks down at you.

“Such a needy little slut. But don’t worry, I’ll give you what you want,” he leaned down to press his lips onto yours, sliding his tongue between his lips as his hand pulled the panties down your legs. You felt one finger probe at your core, swirling around to gather your wetness; he applied just enough pressure to get you going without any relief.

You whimpered into his mouth as he dipped the tip of his finger inside you. You tried to rut up into his hand to get more of his finger but he held you down. He broke the kiss, “Be patient baby… I don’t want to rush this. I want to have you under me for as long as possible.” You frowned up at him but you were obedient in his wishes, doing just what he wanted to please him. “That’s my good girl,” he smirked as his eyes bore into yours.

He pushed his finger into you completely and massaged your walls, making you groan in pleasure. “Such a good fucking girl,” he murmured as he slipped another finger in.

“Oh, fuck!” You gasped out and sat up straight on the bed from the sudden rush of pleasure as his fingers pounded into you. You felt yourself getting wetter and wetter with each flick of his wrist, your pussy getting warmer and more swollen by the second.

“You like that? You like when my fingers fill up your cunt?” All you could do was nod as you pulled his face to yours and kissed him. He grinned down at you as he pulled away, making you whine. “I wanna hear you say it.”

“I love it, I love it when you fuck my pussy with your fingers. Please, don’t stop.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” he smirked at you as he slowed down his pace, looking for your g spot. When your hips twitch up, he knows he found it. He focused on that one spot and kept thrusting into it.

You felt the heat build up in your stomach and you knew you were getting close. You felt the hand that was placed on your hip move down to your clit, which he began to rub in slow circles, making you cum immediately. Your legs began to shake as you arched your back, cumming on his fingers.  

“Mmm, Taehyung, fuck. You make me feel so good.” You pulled away from his fingers and sat up on the bed, scooting back to have your back against the headboard.  “I want my pussy to be overflowing with your cum.” You spread your legs wide for him, giving him the perfect view of your pussy.

“So needy,” Taehyung chuckled, undoing his dress pants and stripping naked in front of you. His hard cock was gigantic, up against his abs as you could visibly see two huge veins go along the length. You licked your licks and took the same opportunity to pull your dress over your head and toss it into the pile of clothes.

He crawled onto the bed and spit onto your sopping cunt, making your pussy even more wet.  He began to position himself in front of your entrance before slowly beginning to push into you.  You gasp as you feel his dick sink into you. The head of his cock stretched you deliciously, then the rest of his length sank into you slowly.  It was when he was halfway in that you began to feel the marvelous burn as his long and thick cock stretched your walls.

He feels you tense up as he gets deeper; you weren’t expecting him to be that big.  “Hmm, you’re doing so well baby girl, taking my cock perfectly. You’re so wet, I’m sliding right in. That’s it.”

Once he bottomed out your felt your muscles relax, as his hips pressed into yours, his cock buried deep into your womb. You don’t think you’ve felt anything so deep before. Taehyung let out a groan as your walls squeezed around him.  

Taehyung pulled back almost completely until just the head of his dick was still inside you. He slammed into you, his hips snapping roughly until he was balls deep. You whimpered at the sharpness of his thrust, but that didn’t stop him. He continued pounding into you, pulling out most of the way before ramming back in. You were glad that you were flat on your back because there was no way your arms or legs could support his harsh actions.  

“Mm, fuck, I’m so deep. You feel so good. My little cockslut,” his sentences were short and gruff as he didn’t let up on his pace. “Such a good whore,” he growls as his tightened his grip on your waist.

“Your sopping cunt is still so tight, fuck.” He places his hand on your stomach where he sees this cock bulging, “You can barely handle me. If I go any harder I might tear you in half.”

“I can take whatever you give me,” you mutter, but barely able to open your eyes due to the amount of pleasure you are receiving.

“I doubt that baby. You can barely breathe correctly,” Taehyung pants, ramming into you, “I’ll fuck you so, so good baby.  You’re gonna cum and soak my dick like a needy bitch.”

“Yes, please use me, oh my god,” your eyes are squeezed shut, your voice rising in volume as you feel your orgasm approaching.

“Hm, you like being used? Like a bitch in heat?”

“Yes, please fuck me, I’m so close. Please, don’t stop,” you beg, trying to focus on the way his cock feels inside of you, brushing against your g spot.  

Taehyung didn’t need to be told twice, as his hand moved down to your clit, rubbing in so perfectly that you were sobbing. “That’s right, cum all over my cock. Let everyone downstairs know who is fucking you, who’s cockslut you are,” he was commanding as his hips rammed into yours deliberately rough to match his words.

You felt the pleasure in your stomach boil over, as the most powerful orgasm you’ve ever felt washed over your whole body. You’re in complete bliss until you feel Taehyung going even harder, continuing to thrust into you and rub your clit.

You whine, feeling tears form, “I’m too sensitive. I can’t.”

“You can and you will.” His lips lowered to your ear, “You feel so good cumming on my cock, I want you to milk my dick until you’re sobbing like the cockslut you are. Can you cum again baby girl? For me?”

The only thing you can do is nod, letting him pound into you and rub your swollen clit until you let the overstimulation turn into another orgasm, cumming for him the third time of the night. You’re exhausted, just laying there and letting him use your body as a fuck toy to get off as he continues to slam into you.

“God, you’re such a good fucking girl, letting me use you how I want. You must love this cock,” he finally cums inside of your pussy, filling you to the brim. “What do you say we go back downstairs and let this cum drip out of you? Let everyone know who claimed you?”

The man barely gave you a minute to rest before he got dressed and put your panties in the back on his dress pants. “We should go down before my father realizes I’m missing. Let’s round two after the banquet.” You grinned at him as he helped you get dressed and led you downstairs, where someone will definitely see cum dripping down your leg.

[shineonmalcolmbright]

Shine On, Bright: Chapter Fifteen

Table of Contents

Present

Gil waits in the lobby of a hotel. It’s nothing like the Overlook and of course nothing like Colorado with being inside the beating heart of New York City. There’s lots of kids chasing one another around, giggling while adults mill about. Some appear to move closer and closer as if they can smell the fact Gil is there for one reason and one reason only, there’s been a murder.

Everybody loves a good hotel murder story. Something about it, the public loves it.

Malcolm enters with his strange little saunter. Not quite something Gil could ever put a label on. Saunter or amble would best describe the way Malcolm walked and smiled on his way toward a murder scene as if it’s the happiest day of his whole dang life. It’s like his phone call to Malcolm was an actual Christmas present.

For the sake of possible onlookers, Gil comments out loud, “Sorry to have to ask you here on Christmas.”

No worries, I was in the neighborhood caroling, Malcolm replies like the peculiar person he is, using throughs instead of actual out loud words. Gil shakes his head. Of course. To which Malcolm responds, What? What’s wrong?

“You and you’re. . .” Gil pauses to signal to all of Malcolm before he starts to walk away leading to the precise crime scene.

Why did you just point to all of me? Malcolm catches up, still moving with his saunter/amble.

“It’s just we’ve been over this before about how it’s weird to use the. . .shining. . .in public.”

But Malcolm grins at this. It’s only strange if you make it strange by responding out loud to my thoughts. Of course, as he talks, he punctuates all his words with his hands.

Hey, I started this conversation.

Alright, you win. Malcolm shrugs it off but abides by the current rules set. “No sign of ESU or CSU?”

“They’re already upstairs.” Gil and Malcolm are walking together. We’re keeping this quiet.

Some reason this causes Malcolm to snort and Gil gives him a look, doesn’t quite seem like a typical reaction by him. When Gil tries to get a closer look, Malcolm’s look not at him but around at the people milling about in the hotel. There’s more than just people trying to get a peek at what’s happening. To be honest, they really aren’t. It’s easy to feel like the center of attention when you don’t wanna be. People are minding their own Christmas business and yet there’s Malcolm turning to give him a look that he still can’t define.

Then Malcolm comments on it, shuffling along towards the elevators. Oh yeah? Secrets doesn’t seem to be your strong suit.

If thoughts could simply be ?!, it’s what passes through Gil’s head. Not a what or any other word in search of a better explanation.

Simply: ?!?!?

To which Malcolm smiles but it’s impossible to tell what sort of smile this is supposed to be, but at least he keeps on the conversation even with Gil moving closer to him looking for answers with his ?!? thoughts.

My mother dropped by last night. This is accentuated with a look from Malcolm as he continues to talk without talking out loud with his hands.

Gil sighs, shaking his head and ends up stopping to face Bright. He sighs, it’s almost more of a huff but some reason he finds himself saying out loud, “She was gonna find out soon enough. Better it came from one of us.” Nothing good can come from any of them digging around the past and Malcolm’s infinite obsession with finding the woman he found in Room 217.

Except for whatever reason, it doesn’t look like Malcolm wants to accept this. He looks at Gil’s feet then his. People of course are still milling about. Even though they’ve somewhat left the lobby, there’s plenty of seats set up and a Christmas tree in the background reminding every single person that it’s Christmas, it’s Christmas, you can’t escape the holidays. There’s never anybody around the Overlook at this time of year.

Even though Gil wants to get a better read on Malcolm, he can’t. There’s nothing hopping through his mind then again at some point way back when Malcolm got real good at hiding his thoughts and emotions from him. Somewhere they hide from sight, maybe with all the ghosts, he locks up in his thoughts.

Rather than keep on keeping on with the same conversation, Malcolm returns but with a different mindset. Are there any updates in the Paul Lazar case? Anything I need to know about?

Somehow Gil snatches up the images of a pocket knife. Not much of one. It’s a split second of it inside an evidence bag then again inside the station wagon and then last. . .at the Overlook? Gil shakes his head, more in response to the question just posed rather than the quick flashes he catches from Malcolm. I don’t have any answers. Again with the sighing, he doesn’t mean to but continues talking. Neither does the FBI. Their task force is moving into the precinct.

This pulls some energy back into Malcolm. He’s chatting again too much with his hands. It has to be weird but maybe it’s a good fact that he’s an oddity already. Oh, they’ll want to question me.

Gil comes so close to chuckling, it’s not even funny. He holds it back but the very thought manages to linger between him and Malcolm. They very much do not want to question you. The two are still standing in one place looking at each other.

Malcolm makes it stranger by needing to use his hands to talk without talking like a regular person. It’s like they’re having a staring contest right then and there before the Christmas tree. As if it’ll help make the situation less weird because again, it feels as if people are coming closer to see what’s going on with police presence in the hotel and on Christmas. “We should start moving along again.”

Doesn’t look like Malcolm is ready to move. He’s bouncing back and forth on his toes and heel watching Gil waiting for more info. The jitters are starting.

The special agent in charge is Colette. . .

Malcolm closes his eyes shaking his head, going somewhere else again for a split second. Something Gil can barely catch. Flash of colors spark up. Burnt orange. DC gray.

Swanson? he asks with a long sigh.

This isn’t going to be good. Gil waits a beat as Malcolm opens his eyes again shaking his head. For whatever reason, he ends up saying the rest out loud. Maybe to prevent Gil or anybody from grasping more at whatever those colors may mean.

“We worked together in DC.” Malcolm digs his hands much deeper into his pockets, weighing himself down. Can’t be comfortable. And he adds, “She hates me.”

For real this time, Gil chuckles and nods. “Oh, yeah, said to keep you out of her way.”

“That's all she said?” Malcolm blurts.

There it is again. Burnt orange. DC gray. Gil ends up trying to casually say, “There were other words, but why ruin your holidays?”

Everybody deserves a handful of secrets and whatever happened between the two of them. Well, Gil hopes it remains a secret he doesn’t uncover. There are always things he’d rather not know about a person’s personal life. He takes a few steps back, ready to break them from the point in the somewhat hotel lobby.

Gil nods. “Come on, I got something that’ll cheer you up.”

Gil’s already moving and it’s a good thing he looks back because Malcolm continues to stand in the same spot. The flashes of color are all gone. He’s returned to monochrome. A place where he goes to hide those thoughts of his. Gil doesn’t hesitate to allow for him to follow. He will. And of course, Malcolm does. He shakes his head and starts to move after Gil again to cut through the busyness of the hotel to observe the details of a grisly murder.

It doesn’t take long to make it upstairs and they’re moving down a long hallway. Neither of them exchange words the rest of the way.

JT is waiting at the end of the hallway outside the hotel room where they’re heading. His arms hanging at his side and he’s watching them approach. Gil’s walking normal as he does and Malcolm’s back to his saunter/amble.

“Merry Christmas!” Malcolm calls out to JT before they get too close.

Except JT is stuck in the same position staring at him. Earlier Gil was stuck without words and so is JT as he stares at Malcolm not really able to form any reasonable thought around Malcolm’s holiday cheers at a murder scene. He’s standing there all !!!! but he raises a hand like he’s going to say something but still nothing other than !!!!.

Malcolm and Gil come closer and Malcolm’s smile is fading fast as he attempts to read the situation. “Happy Hanukkah?”

Dani’s there as well watching the scene but staying off to the side.

Malcolm’s still looking quizzical not understanding people and yet somehow understands them best in such unexpected ways. JT shakes his head still feeling !!!, but informs them, “Hallway’s secure. Hotel’s keeping things under wraps and I should be home eating my wife’s kringle right now.”

Yet Malcolm stares at him, his head tilted to the side a little. JT gives them some sort of look with his ongoing !!!! thoughts and Gil considers saying something about it all. Maybe let Bright know something. As JT walks away Malcolm follows getting really close to JT.

At least, before entering the hotel room JT offers up more than !!! by explaining, “It’s. . .a pastry.” Then he moves on. Conversation is over and his !!! are over. Gil and Malcolm start to follow him into the room.

But before Gil can make sure Malcolm makes it inside, Dani stops Malcolm from coming inside. Gil sort of glances back at bright. Monochrome’s gone. Malcolm pauses looking at Dani, her hands are out a bit making sure he’s stopped as she says a pretty quiet “Hey” and is about to follow it up with some question that Gil decides isn’t for him for some reason. Again there’s the flash of burnt orange but it’s accompanied by a cold New York blue then a warmer shade of blue. Gil enters the room leaving the two to whatever quick words they’re about to exchange before getting down to business and discussing the situation at hand.

[chaosbulldogwrites]

Opportunity

Word count: 3,365

Genre: soft to smut..I guess?

Pairing: Jung Hoseok/j-hope x reader

Rating: 18+

Warnings: language, sexual situations, blowjobs, oral sex, unprotected sex

A trip to Barcelona opens up a new opportunity for you...

Collaboration info:  Come join us as we explore Europe with BTS through fanfiction. Our members chose a European location and a BTS member/combo to adventure with, inspired by the group’s most recent extended time off. Our fics range from fluff to smut, exploring our fantasies and ideations of what it would be like to travel with the boys. We invite you to go on this journey with us!

Fellow collaborators: som-siren |  smuttymess | bangtanbetch (1) (2)

The first thing you noticed was his laugh.

It rang out clearly through the kitchen as you sipped on the Spanish coffee in front of you. You had gotten in late to the hostel the night before, the flight taking forever and landing later than expected. Barcelona sat unfamiliar and unexplored, but all you wanted to do was take a hot shower to get rid of the airplane smell and pass out in bed. Which is exactly what you did last night.

The laugh made you look up from the newspaper on the table, the Spanish familiar yet unfamiliar to you. You prayed the language would come back soon; those years from high school not going to waste. But all ideas of that slipped from your mind when you saw him.

He slipped into the kitchen, laugh still ringing out, a gigantic smile on his face. His eyes were nearly shut in joy as you realized he was laughing with someone on the phone. He was speaking a language more foreign to you than the Spanish on the newspaper, though from the tone and inflection, he was having a very pleasant and fun conversation with whoever he was talking to.

You couldn’t help but smile into your warm coffee as he talked excitedly on the phone. His joy was contagious. The stress of last night was definitely dissipating from you as you reached out for a breakfast pastry sitting on the table. You took a big bite out of it as he finished his phone call, cup of coffee in hand as he sat across from you at the table. He sighed and smiled as he looked up at you, eyes crinkling once again in your direction.

“Good morning,” he spoke first, the English surprising you as you choked on coffee. You weren’t sure why him speaking English after whatever language he was speaking caught you off guard, but his voice was very pleasant. Almost sing-song in a way.

“Good morning,” you managed to finally return, swallowing the errant coffee down your throat.  

“You okay?”

You nodded, blushing hard as you placed your mug down maybe a bit too hard on the table. “Sorry.”

“No problem.” He smiled again, taking a sip of his own coffee as well before he winced at it. “Aish, so bitter.”

“There’s cream and sugar.” You push forward the containers towards him. He nods as he dumps a ton of sugar into the coffee and a liberal amount of cream afterwards. You couldn’t help but giggle.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” You sipped on your own super-sweetened coffee. You had to sympathize with him, the coffee here was way more bitter than you were used to.

“My friend likes… no, loves coffee,” he said after a sip, satisfied with his new concoction in front of him. “I don’t get it.”

You giggle as you take another bite of your pastry. “They say it’s an acquired taste. But I’m just in it for the caffeine.”

He nods. You now notice his bright brown eyes and how they contrast so perfectly well with his golden skin and caramel-colored hair. He grabs a pastry and takes a big bite as well as you just study this beautiful man who walked into your life.

“You weren’t here yesterday,” he responds eventually, breaking you out of your gaze.

“I just got in last night. Late, actually,” you finally stammer, surprised at his bluntness.

He nodded, that infectious smile on his face again. “First time in Barcelona?”

“First time traveling actually.”

An inquisitive look flashed across his face for a moment before raising an eyebrow. “You’ve never traveled before?”

“Not out of the country, no.”

“Excited?”

You nod your head. “I’ve always wanted to travel to another country, but the right opportunity never showed up.”

“And this is? The right opportunity?”

You blush, the heat rising to your cheeks.

The right opportunity being you just fed up with life in general. Doing the same old song and dance. Work, home, maybe going out to the bar once in a while only to fail at picking up someone to come home with you. So with a new job on the horizon and some cash in your pocket from the last one you figured why not treat yourself and fly halfway across the world to experience a new culture. Barcelona you heard was a great place to visit. Safe too, since your parents were more than concerned about you flying and traveling alone. Plus you wanted to go somewhere with a little Latin flair, so to speak.

So to find yourself sitting in a hostel kitchen with a man definitely not of Latin descent, maybe the right opportunity came long. And something welled up inside you, a confidence you never knew you had. Maybe it was the foreign air, or the lack of personal ties not being in your home country and traveling alone, but damn if he wasn’t so gorgeous sitting there in the sunlight, highlighting his soft features on his face.

“Yeah, I think this is.”

He reaches a hand out towards you. “Hoseok.”

You reciprocate, smiling as you answer back with your name. The confidence inside you grows.

“Are you doing anything today Hoseok? Since this is my first day in Barcelona after all.”

He finishes his coffee with a flourish, the mug clanking down on the table. “Nope. Looking for a tour guide?”

“Maybe…” You get up from the table, walking with renewed vigor over to the sink place you coffee cup in it. “There’s a lot to see and I don’t know where to start.

He thought for a minute, finger tapping on his lips before he snapped his fingers. “Meet me down here in 10 minutes. We’ll have fun!”

And have fun you do.

He took you around, studying the old Gothic architecture around the city, the many churches rising massively in the sky. You both wonder in awe of how these massive cathedrals were built. And although you both want to buy a tour of one of them, the prices were high and the crowds were swelling with people. Walking around outside in the cool sea breeze with a beautiful man next to you was just as good.

You both manage to find a small cafe tucked away from the main tourist drags where you tuck into lunch and find out more about your travel partner for the day. You find out he’s from South Korea and from the way he explains it the country shoots up pretty high on your “countries to visit soon” list. You comment at lunch how his English is pretty good, even if he isn’t confident in it. He mentions his friend is “much, much better” at English than him, even as he teaches you some Korean, which you realize now what he was speaking this morning on the phone.   Bellies full of food and wine, you take the afternoon to just people watch. You find out that Hoseok loves to dance, and is really good at it. You manage to record him dancing along with some street performers, the hip-hop vibe flowing throughout the whole performance. You show him the video afterward and you can tell he must do this for a living, carefully critiquing his moves and flow. He points out a few things he could have done to make the performance better, but you shake your head at him.

“Loosen up a little,” you say. “You’re so hard on yourself!”

Before you know it sunset had appeared and he asks you out to dinner. You both return to the hostel to freshen up and change from walking around the city all day. You fish out from the bottom of your suitcase a cute dress that you never thought you’d wear. Just in case you remember telling yourself back then packing. You check yourself in the mirror, seeing this new confident you staring back in this sexy dress that accentuates the right parts. You put up your hair and add on some extra makeup to take the look into the night.

When you return downstairs you are stunned at the man in front of you. Hoseok looks, for lack of a better term, amazing. He’s wearing a button down shirt that he’s left a few buttons open near his neck, showcasing his collarbones that peek through. That is tucked into a pair of linen pants and a pair of spotless white loafers. His hair is slightly textured now with product, but his forehead looks so good under the part in his bangs.

“Wow.”

He echoes that as he reaches a hand out towards you.

“Ready for dinner, noona?”

You nod, taking his hand lightly. Your cheeks blush under the friendly term. “What did you have planned?”

“You’ll see.”

You both walk for a while down the street by the beaches, watching the city go from day to night. Gone are the multitudes of families and tour groups crowding the streets. Replaced are groups of people more your age getting ready to spend the night dancing and drinking and enjoying themselves. Your hand has not left his, holding on to it for dear life. In the matter of hours you’ve gone from complete strangers to acquaintances.

No, more than that. Friends? Maybe even more?

If you were more than just friends he wouldn’t be taking you to dinner.

All thoughts of that disappeared when you got to dinner, eating at a local restaurant serving dishes from the area. Conversation and wine flowed easily at the table as you talked more about your lives outside of Barcelona. His personality was like sunshine, ever so bright and cheerful.

“This has been a really fun day,” you say as dinner is cleared away and you wait for the bill. You swirl the wine around in the glass your holding before taking a sip. “Thank you Hoseok.”

He nods as he raises his glass towards you. “To friends?”

“To friends.” The glasses ring in the clear night sky. You take another sip as you settle into your thoughts.

“What’s wrong, noona?”

“I’ve never had a day like this,” you confess. “I’ve never taken a chance like this and flown halfway across the world and spent the whole day with someone I literally met at breakfast. It’s definitely not me.” You pause for a moment, searching his face for a response. He waits patiently as you figure out the words.

“I don’t want this day to end Hoseok. I know after tonight you’re leaving to meet your friends before you head home to Korea. I honestly wish I would’ve been here sooner so I could spend more time with you. Get to know you more.”

He lays his hand on top of yours. Goosebumps ripple up your arms at the touch. It’s soft yet firm.

“I know, but the night is not over yet.”

He smiles that infectious smile before he leans over the table. You shut your eyes as your rise from your seat, lips pressing into his. The kiss is innocent, chaste almost. You can tell he’s holding back. Hell you’re holding back as well. You open your eyes just as he opens his and you stare at one another for a heartbeat.

“Your check.”

The waitress breaks the tension between the two of you. You blush as he quickly grabs for it. You reach for your clutch but he waves you off.

“No, no. It’s on me.”

You down the rest of your wine as he pays for dinner. It’s barely a moment before he pulls you on your feet. Your close to him, closer than any other moment of the day. Your body is pressed into his, his warmth radiating over you in comfort. Your eyes lock upon one another, searching for some answer to what today was. Is.

Did it matter?

You take the initiative and lean up into him, leading the kiss this time. You pull him closer, putting more into the kiss. Just from his lips he tastes like red wine and spice. You want more, crave more.

He pulls you away for a moment, his tongue licking across his lips. Was it nervousness that flashed across his face? Were you too forward?

You opened your mouth to ask him but he answers with a finger to your lips.

“Somewhere more…private?”

“Yes.”

You have no idea how fast the both of you ran back to the hostel between all the kisses you each tried to sneak from one another. You are almost tempted to pull him into an alley just to make out, but he keeps pulling you down the beach, back to somewhere safe and more sanitary than a back alley in Barcelona.

The moment the door slams to his room his hands are all over you, gripping at your hips, pulling you closer to him. Each and every kiss you get bolder, pushing more into him. He still tastes like wine and spice across his lips, his tongue. You gasp for air after releasing from another deep kiss. His eyes are burning with a fire you haven’t seen before.

In your frenzied movements making out, the back of your knees hit the edge of his bed. His hands are slowly moving across your hips to your back, to the zipper at the top of your dress. You let him unzip you slowly as you run your hands across his chest, tracing those collarbones he was showing off tonight. The fabric of your dress falls away, revealing yourself in the dim light of the room. He grins deviously as his hands move back up your body towards your breasts.

“Noona… You’re so beautiful.”

The next kiss sends you crashing towards his bed, your back hitting the mattress with a thump. He moves on top, his leg slotting between yours. There’s more tongue now, his kiss hungry for your breath. He wants more, craves more.

Your fingers nimbly unbutton his shirt as he keeps his lips on yours, his shirt falling to the side of the bed. They trace down his abs towards his belt until they settle upon the growing hardness down below. You can’t help but smile as he winces into the kiss, your hands squeezing ever so much on his growing erection.

It triggers something carnal in him as he grabs your wrists, pinning them above your head. His leg pushes up against you as you feel the warmth below begin to spread. You playfully push against his hold, but the grip tightens.

“So greedy.”

He begins to move his kisses across your jawline, down your neck into your shoulder. Your heart skips a beat as you feel him work the skin there, biting and pulling. It just makes you wetter.

He moves your wrists into one of his hands as the other trails back down your body. He stops for a moment to play with one of your breasts. You want him to take off your bra and play with them uninterrupted, but him teasing your nipples through the cloth just drives you crazy with frustration. You can’t help but let out a whimper as he flicks it with his fingers. It causes him to laugh into your neck as his fingers continue their journey down your body.

“Hoseok…”

“Hmmm?” His eyes looking up at yours, his lips shiny with spit.

“Please…”

“Say it, noona.” He brings his lips back to you, silencing your answer as his fingers hovered above your waistline, tracing your hipbones. You push up with your whole body, your back arching in pleasure as you get friction from his thigh and your panties.

“I want you inside me Hoseok. Please…” you manage to finally say as he releases your lips. They’re swollen and shiny and beautiful. That grin returns as his fingers finally cross underneath your panties into the wetness underneath. You let out a gasp as he goes inside you. Your nerves scream in pleasure as he goes deeper before slowly dragging it against your bundle of nerves back out again. You can feel yourself clench against nothing as he brings up the offending finger, shiny in your juices. He licks himself clean as you stare up at him through your eyelashes. The sight just turns you on even more.

“Tasty,” he murmurs. “Want more.”

His head lowers as he releases his grip on your wrists, but you don’t dare move them. They grab towards your breasts, pushing under the cups of your bra. They grab at the soft flesh, clouding your mind further in the throws of pleasure. The pads of his fingertips brush against your sensitive nipples, causing you pain and pleasure. You feel his tongue slide down your body, across your bellybutton only to stop right above your pussy. You feel his breath above you, waiting to lap you up.

It happens all at once as he pinches both of your nipples hard and buries his face into you. His tongue reaches deeply, teasing at your pleasure as your body goes into a brief shock from all the stimulation. You don’t know when it hits you, but you scream out his name as he continues to eat you out, your orgasm sending you to cloud nine.

He comes up to breathe after what feels like an infinity, your hands there to hold his head as he gasps for air. He licks at your juices as you run your fingertips across his cheekbones. You pull him back up for a kiss, tasting your saltiness against his spice.

“You’re so good to me, Hoseok,” you finally say, your thoughts clearing. “I wanna be good for you.”

“You are, noona.” His hands card through your hair, his fingers tangling in your locks.

“May I?” Your hands move back down towards his neglected erection, still trapped under layers of fabric. Hoseok nods as you fumble for his belt, making quick work and pulling it off in one move. His pants and underwear fall quickly after. You can’t help but marvel at the size of him, wondering how he was so patient as he pleasured you.

His hands push your head down towards the head of his cock. You lick your lips as you prepare to take yourself into your mouth. Your lips slide down his length and back up, before you let go with a pop. His rolls back as he lets out a moan, his fingers pulling your hair tighter. Your tongue slides down the vein below, another breathy moan coming from his lips. You grin as you take him on again, your lips rolling up and down his length. He’s almost too long for you to take fully, your gag reflex triggering once before you adjust yourself to take him on. Every time he hits the back of your throat he moans louder, pushing you to do it over and over again.

“Noona…noon…uh…” you can feel himself grab your head, holding you deep on his cock. You can feel he’s so close as you swirl your tongue around the base. “I’m gonna…gonna…”

You swallow generously as he shoots, his cock pulsing in your mouth as he comes. He lets himself finish before releasing your hair. Your tongue takes one last greedy swipe against his sensitive dick before you look up at him. You both kiss one last time as you both fall into the mattress, blissed out.

Moments pass as you lie looking at one another, letting your hands run over each others bodies. You can’t help but smile as you brush his hair from the sweat covering his forehead.

“So was it a good opportunity?” he asks, pulling you closer into bed against his body. Your mind goes back from this morning, from seeing him in the kitchen and the conversation then. You can’t help but smile and kiss him gently on the lips as you settle into his arms. The night may come to the end and in the morning you’ll separate, but you’ll always have the memory of the day.

The day you took a chance. An opportunity.

“Yeah, I think it was.”

[headlongedmaggiemay]

What’s Going On (Gwilym x OFC)

Hi all! Alright, I AM NOT A WRITER, not really. This is my very first fanfic, so please bare with me! This is between Gwilym and an OFC named Siobhan, pronounced Shi-VAWN. There was no prompt for this, it was purely on a whim.  I am planning on writing a second part, but classes have started again so I’m unsure as to when I’ll get around to it! Feedback is welcomed!

@winnielinleigh here you go babe! Hope you enjoy!

*Disclaimer* - based on Gwilym Lee, however, I don’t know very much personal info, he seems a bit private, and i respect that, so as far as speaking about him breaking bone, I made that part up, there is no facts to that statement. 

Warnings: a few curse words, drinking... don’t drink an drive kids! 

Word count: 4k

If you haven’t given What’s Up by 4 Non Blondes, you should!

Siobhan smiled to herself, in fact she couldn’t stop smiling since she got the call. At 1:27, she received a call from her manager that she was going to have a solo show in one of the biggest galleries in the state.  This was a huge opportunity for her to get her name out there as an artist. She was so excited and so ready for this to happen, it was literally her dream come true.  She texted her friends sharing the news.  They were all so excited for her.  Her three best friends that were local all decided tonight they’d celebrate.

She cleaned up her studio and ran home as fast as she could.  It had been a while since she enjoyed a night out.  

As soon as she stepped through her door, her friend and roommate, Danielle assaulted her with a giant hug.

“I can’t believe it! You did it! They want YOU!” Danielle squeezed her friend tight.

“I know! I’m still trying to believe it myself!” Siobhan giggled.  It was true, she had worked her entire life to get to this point as an artist.  They were both artists, working in different mediums, she painted in oil while Danielle did watercolor and ceramics.  Danielle, however, settled into a ‘normal’ life, working retail and doing art on the side. Siobhan got a job at a local studio/gallery right after she graduated from college and worked tirelessly to grow and refine her art.  That was all she wanted to since she was a kid and now it was finally coming to fruition.

“Alright, Mika said she’d pick up Milo on her way over.  I offered them to stay the night if they were too far gone to get home safely,” Danielle informed her.  Mika and Siobhan met their first year at college. Mika was the only non-art person out of the four, she studied biology and worked for the FDA doing research. Milo was Siobhan’s very best friend and the guy she had fell in love with early into their friendship.  It was a one-sided love, not that he didn’t love her. He did, just not in that way.  She never told him her feelings because she knew him, she knew how he worked, and she knew he didn’t reciprocate those feelings. Siobhan resolved with the new year to let those feelings go.  Too many times had she fallen for a friend, too many times had it remained one-sided. No more. She was 28, for fuck’s sake!

“Cool, I’m excited, I need a night out!”

“Yeah, you do!” her friend sassily responded, giving her biggest grin.

A little after 8, Mika walked into their rented house, Milo in tow.  Siobhan was ready except for her shoes and was helping Danielle finish her makeup.  

“Congratulations Von!” Mika ran up and hugged Siobhan as she was about to swipe some eyeshadow across Danielle’s lid.  Lucky, Siobhan saw it coming and dropped her hand before it could hit her friend’s cheek, messing up her makeup.  

“Woah! A hug? What is this?” She teased, leaning into the hug.  Both Mika and Milo were not hugging people, much to Siobhan’s displeasure.  “Did you get a lobotomy on your way over?”

“Har, har, har,” Her friend rolled her eyes. “No, just ‘cause I don’t like touching doesn’t mean I can’t choose to give a hug! It’s my choice!”

“Yes, it is, and I will always take a hug from you, whenever you choose to give one!” She said releasing her friend.

“Congrats, Von,” Milo said giving her a hug as soon as Mika stepped away from Siobhan.  She knew better not to tease Milo about the hugging. His lack of physical affection towards anyone stemmed from a deeper problem.  Knowing this, Siobhan reveled in the highly rare occurrence of physical affection from him.  He moved her to arm’s length, looking directly in her eyes, “you deserve it,” he said sincerely.

“Thank you,” she gave a sheepish smile.  Even though her head said not to think to far into it, her heart tried to run wild with the intimate encounter.  “Alright,” She said brightly, shaking off the unwelcomed feelings, “you guys go make some drinks and I’ll finish Danielle’s makeup!”

“Coladas for all!” Mika cheered.

“That’s the only thing you know how make, isn’t it?” She heard Milo tease as they made their way to the kitchen. Siobhan laughed and continue to work on her friend’s face.

After a few Pina Coladas and Margaritas, the Uber honked, and they filled out the door.  They were deposited in the heart of the small downtown area.  The city was a college town.  Siobhan always felt the city itself was a contradiction.  It was large, but felt like a spread-out town, no the big city it was considered to be by the locals.  Not like the actual big cities she was used to back in California.  This was the mid-west, a very different walk of life than the one she grew up in.  She only stayed here because she got the job at the studio/gallery.  It didn’t hurt that Mika and Danielle also stuck around after they graduated.

They headed towards their favorite rum club for a few more cocktails before hitting up one of the clubs. The night was going perfectly, Mika and Siobhan even got Danielle and Milo to join them on the dance floor. Danielle was a bit harder to convince than Milo.  Once he saw some creeps trying to separate Mika and Siobhan, he joined them, leaving Danielle little choice but to join in, since she hated being alone.  Seeing Milo’s protective side, sent a pang resounding through Siobhan’s heart.  She tossed back the rest of the drink she was nursing and focused on the thumping beat of the music, ignoring those irritating little feelings.  She actually was doing better with controlling her emotions towards him, it had gotten a lot easier lately, but there were still moments that flared them up.

About half past midnight, they decided they all needed a bit of air.  

“My feet are killing me! Why’d I let you talk me into wearing heels?” Danielle whined as they collectively plopped on the downtown square’s benches.

“Ha, it didn’t take much, really,” Siobhan retorted.  “The heels are what completed your look.”

“That, and you’re the shortest.” Mika teased.

“Hey!” Danielle squeaked, swaying a bit.  Siobhan and Milo chuckled.  “Well, whatever, at least Von isn’t wearing her tall heels! Those put you close to Milo’s height!”

“Not quite, I’m still a couple inches taller!” he stated.

“Yeah, we know, Mister 6-Foot-3, maybe,” Siobhan made scrunched up face towards her best friend. He playfully rolled his eyes in response.

“Hey, I have to pee!” Danielle was definitely feeling the effects of all the alcohol from the evening. Not only was she the shortest, but she had the lowest tolerance for alcohol.  Siobhan was actually surprised she’d lasted the whole evening.

Milo hummed, looking around. “Looks like the Dueling Pianos is still open.”

“Good,” Danielle jumped up and walked purposefully towards the musical bar, not waiting for her friends to follow.

Once they all were I.D’d, Danielle and Milo headed for the bathrooms.

“I’ll go with her,” Siobhan offered.

“Nah, I got her.” Mika walked fast to catch up with Danielle.  

Siobhan found an empty, relatively clean table about halfway between the bar and the stage where the band was back from a small break.  Siobhan enjoyed the Dueling Pianos.  It had an energy she was drawn to.  She generally enjoyed bars more than clubs, but the Dueling Pianos had the perfect balance between the two.  She’d already been through her hard clubbing stage, but Mika was barely 21 and wanted to go clubbing.  Siobhan would go with her, sometimes to let loose, but mainly to keep her safe. The other two, also enjoyed bars more, though Milo was a few months older than Mika, and Danielle was only 23.  All but Mika were introverts.  The age difference between Siobhan and her friends was due to the couple years she took off from college before returning at the age of 25.  They liked to call her Mom and tease about the age gap.  She didn’t mind, she always had friends with large age differences. To her, age was just a social construct once you hit legal age. It also didn’t hurt that she looked younger than both Milo and Danielle.  

Her friends found her as the band started Billy Jean, most of the bar goers sang along.

“I’m gonna get us some drinks!” Siobhan shouted over the live music to her friends.  They nod an acknowledgment. It took what felt like ten minutes for her to flag down a bartender, the band had already gone through their first song.

“We’re going to need all of your help out there with this one!” one of the pianists said as she started playing Don’t Stop Believing. Siobhan half watched the lead singer Peacock about the stage from her place at the bar.

“What’ll you have?” a raspy voice shouted, pulling her attention back to the bar.  She gave she order for the drinks and waited, scanning the room.  She noticed a man at the other side of the bar. He had long, angular features that were accentuated by the flashing colored lights from the stage.  He had a kind, yet appealing face, with deep set eyes, scruffy beard, and darker hair.  The bartender placed two of the drinks on the bar in front of her.  That was when she realized she had been starring at him, but what startled her more was that he had been looking at her as well. She broke eye contact and smiled a thanks at the bartender, feeling heat crawl up her throat towards her cheeks.  Thankful for the darkness of the bar, she decided to divert her attention to the colorful bottles against the back wall.  

The bartender placed the last two drinks in front of her and she began handing him enough cash to cover the bill and a tip, but he raised his hand shook his head.  

“You’re covered,” He said simply.

“W-what?” She stuttered.

“Someone said to put whatever you got on his tab,” replied the man, thumbing over his shoulder towards the man she had been staring at earlier.  She looked over at his smiling face, surprised. Why would anyone cover my drinks? She internally questioned.

“Hey,” a deep voice dragged her out of her self-deprecating thoughts.  She swiveled on her heel, realizing it was Milo. “Thought I’d come and make sure you were alright.”

“Ah, I’m good, but perfect timing, you can help me carry these,” she said smiling up at her friend. She glanced back at the man.  His smile had fallen as he watch their interaction.  She internally frowned, not liking the sight of the sadness marring his cute face.  She nodded a thanks with a smile to him, he raised his glass in acknowledgement.  They each grabbed two of the drinks and made their way to the table.  Once everyone had their drinks, Siobhan excused herself.

“Where are you going?” Mika asked.

“I have to go say hi to someone,” she said vaguely.  She expected them to assume she saw an old coworker from the coffee shop.  She gave them a reassuring smile. “I’ll be back, no worries!”

She headed back to the bar; to the far side of the bar. As she approached him, she studied his profile. He really was quite handsome, crestfallen, but handsome.  

“Hi,” she said, startling him. He obviously hadn’t seen her approach.

He looked up at her with a slight smile and eyebrows raised. “Hello.” His voice was just as pleasant as his face.  She wasn’t sure, but it sounded as if he had an accent.

“Thank you for covering our drinks…” she trailed off, slightly embarrassed that she even decided to go say something to him.

“Hope I didn’t make anything awkward between you and your boyfriend,” he said giving a polite smile. He did have an accent, British, she was sure of it.  

“H-he’s not, we’re not – um, I didn’t tell them you paid,” she stuttered. “I don’t have a boyfriend, he’s just my best friend,” she said more solidly.

His smile grew more genuine, “oh, good, well, I mean, you’re welcome.”

She let out a little giggle, causing him to smile more.

“I’m Gwil.”

“Siobhan,” she beamed, stretching out a hand. “Nice to meet you Will.”

“Gwil, actually Gwilym,” He chuckled, annunciating the G.  She noticed how much larger his hand was than the one she had offered as he shook it. Soft too. “It’s nice to meet you Siobhan.”

“Oh, sorry!” Her free hand flew up and covered her mouth in mortification. “Gwil. Gwilym,” She tested his name as he released her other hand. After a small pause, she looked him directly in the eyes. “Honestly, I can’t let you cover all of those drinks for me and my friends, I appreciate it, but please allow me to pay you back.” She said, feeling a bit awkward. She never liked when people paid for her.

He scratched at his stubbly chin and smiled, “it’s no trouble, really.” His eyes flicked over her face. She once had been decent at hiding her emotions, but towards her mid-twenties she stopped caring enough in most situations. In this moment, she wished she still had more control over her facial features. “hmm, I’ll think about it. Maybe.” He teased.

“You’ll think about it?” She quirked up her left eyebrow. Gwilym laughed, taking a sip from his glass.

“Care to sit?” his question was simple and innocent. Siobhan was pretty good at reading others’ vibes. There were no inky or unsavory feelings radiating from him. His eyes were earnest and smile was lovely.

“Love to,” she smiled, sliding onto the stool, placing her own drink on the bar. “So, Gwilym, you’re British, yeah?” he hummed to answer. “You’re a long way from home, then.”

He scratched the back of his head and laughed. “Yeah, ‘suppose so, aren’t I?”

“What brought you to this little big city in the middle of America?” she asked genuinely.  He looked up at her and her heart fluttered.  

“Bit of a long story, really, but the short of it is there was a bit of drama on the plane.”

“Oh, that sucks.” He quirked a smile.

“It’s not too bad, though we were supposed to only be grounded for an hour or so.”

“Seems like you’ve been here longer than that.” Siobhan felt a pull towards him, something she’d barely experience before.

“Hmm,” he nodded, leaning a bit towards her. “They told us our flight was cancelled and the next one scheduled for New York leaves at 11 in the morning.”

“They couldn’t divert to a larger airport?” Though there was an airport in town, it was tiny and had maybe a dozen commercial flights in and out a day.  The surrounding large airports were all about three hours away, driving.  

“Apparently not,” he shrugged, something about it was adorable.  He seemed kind of like both an 80-something year old and a 5-year-old all in one gesture.  

“That’s unfortunate,” she gave a sympathetic smile.

“Not all too unfortunate,” He smiled wide at her, causing her to blush. “Alright, Siobhan, what do you do? What brought you out? What’s your darkest secret?” He said brightly.

“Oh, you’re just diving in, aren’t you?” She giggled. He nodded, encouraging her, or maybe it was the alcohol. “I’m an artist and my friends took me out because I landed a solo show at a pretty big gallery,” she said proudly.  She didn’t brag about her art, but she was pretty damn proud that they wanted her paintings.  His eyebrows shot up.

“That’s amazing! Congratulations!” He beamed at her. She thanked him.  His very sincere smile turned mischievous, “And your deepest, darkest secret?”

She laughed, “oh, you’re serious?”

He nodded.

“Hmm,” she contemplated, tapping her finger on her chin, very much aware his eyes were glued to that area. A smile brightened her face, “how about two truths and a lie? But you have to go first.”

He considered the offer, “alright. I’m a Sagittarius, I’ve broken my tail bone twice, and I wish I were Batman.” He feigned a pout. They both laughed.  Siobhan considered the options, biting her lip unconsciously, drawing his eye there once again.

“Hmm,” her eyes flicked to his beautiful ones, she wished the lights weren’t colored so she could see what color his were. “You seem like an Aquarius, the other two are truths.”

“How d’you figure?”

“Oh, I can tell by the way you annunciate your ‘g’,” she said deadpan, he looked surprised. Slowly, her smile broke, and she began giggling. He realized she was teasing him and laughed along. “No, I have no clue, but I’m sticking with the lie is you’re a Sagittarius.”

“No luck,” he hummed.

“You wish you were Captain America?” she dramatically plopped her chin in her hand and wiggled her eyebrows.

Giving a hardy laugh, Gwil shook his head. “oh, yes, the man from Bristol dreams to be Captain America.”

Siobhan shrugged, “you never know! Chris Evans is pretty attractive!”

“Yes, he is,” he laughed again.

“Glad we agree on that, So, you broke your tailbone, three times… playing football, or was it rugby?” she gave him a sly smile.

“Neither, I’ve never broken my tailbone. An arm, yes, but that’s it.” He chuckled. “You’re quite terrible at this game, aren’t you?”

“I try to see the best in people,” she offered as an excuse.

“Good quality. Alright, let’s see if I’m any better.”

“Okay. I’ve gone scuba diving, I lit our toaster on fire on my brother’s birthday, and I’m a descendant of Cleopatra.” She smiled at him, with a glint in her eye.

He rubbed at his stubbly cheek, pondering.

He leaned closer to her, look her straight in the eye. “You’ve never been scuba diving.”

Her jaw dropped. “Yeah.” She tipped her head to the side a bit, “how’d you guess? Most people go for the Cleopatra thing, since I clearly bare no resemblance to her.” Siobhan was fair, her skin had a light spattering of freckles, aqua eyes, and her current hair color was auburn.

“You glanced to the side when you mentioned the diving.”

“Are you detective? Should I call you Sherlock?” she teased.

“Not a detective, just happen to know somethings,” he trailed. He was intriguing, but something familiar was nagging at her.  She recognized him somehow.

They kept talking and laughing, simply enjoying each other’s company.  Their surroundings dissolved, and what was left was a magnetic pull between the two.

The band struck up What’s Up by the 4 Non Blondes.

“Love this song,” Siobhan muttered without realizing, swaying to the beat.

Her comment surprised him, not because of how innocent and out of the blue it was, but because the guitarist had barely strummed 4 notes.  “How-?”

She looked up, registering she zoned out to the music.  She gave a bashful smile as the bar erupted into song with the band.

“I really like music,” she said simply.

“You are one of the more intriguing persons I’ve met.”

“Hardly,” a blush stole across her features. He looked her directly in the eyes, an emotion she couldn’t read flashed behind them.

“Truly.”

“Alright! We’ve got to settle this, which side of the room is louder?” one of the pianists shouted, still playing What’s Up, gaining the attention of all the patrons. “I think my side is.” She said egging the other pianist.

“Absolutely not! You all are going to beat them!” he bellowed to his side of the room.  The energy grew and rippled through the crowd.  “Yeah! We’ll show ‘em!”

Their banter went on a bit more, riling up the crowd. Siobhan and Gwilym laughed at the razzing.

“Okay, we’ll prove we’re better,” the female pianist stood up, continuing to pound on the keys of the white grand piano. “You lot are going to follow me! On the chorus I want you to sing at the top of your lungs!”

A great cheer erupted from their side of the room.

“AND I SAID– “she sang with a great passion.

“HEYYY-YEEHHHH-YEEEHHH! I SAID HEY! WHAT’S GOING ON!” Siobhan yelled along with their side, raising her glass. A slow smile stole across Gwilym’s face, eyes on her, as the other side retorted the same lyrics.  Siobhan was laughing and cheering, readying for the next volley.  She glanced at him with the biggest smile and nudged him, “you gonna join in?”

He nodded and joined in for the rest of the battling between sides.  By the time the song finished, they were cracking up, bright eyes directed at each other.  She felt her stomach flip, simply looking at him.  Somewhere before the song, she’d let down her guard with him. It felt nice. It felt like they’d been the best of friends their whole lives.

“Hey, Von!” a voice cried out, bringing them both back.  It was Milo. She forgot she was out with her friends. “They’re closing up.” He said eyeing Gwil, with the other girls in tow. Mika smiled at the Gwilym with a happy curiosity. Danielle, looking like she was ready to climb in bed, looked at the seated two with vague interest.  

“Oh, it’s 2 already?” Siobhan said surprised, looking at her phone.  There were five texts she completely missed from him. Milo gave a clipped nod. “Ah, Sorry.”

She stood and turned back around to Gwilym, pleasantly surprised at how tall he was.  She had guessed he was taller, given the length of his arms, but she didn’t realize he and Milo would stand eye-to-eye. She smiled up at him. “Gwil, these are my friends. Milo, Mika, and Danielle. Guys, Gwilym.”

“Nice to meet you all,” he said pleasantly, nodding to each of them.

Milo looked over him warily. “The Uber is almost here,” he said to Siobhan, looking at the other man.

With a flash of recognition, Danielle’s interest grew a bit, just in time for Milo to usher her and Mika towards the door. Siobhan began to follow her friends to the entrance.

Gwilym snatched Siobhan’s wrist, gently, whirling her around to face him. “Meet me for breakfast.”

Astonishment crossed her face. “Hmm, and if I don’t?” she taunted.

“I’ll be heart-broken.” He flashed her a charming smile, looking into her blue-green eyes.

“I’ll think about it,” she winked. He shook his head, lightly laughing.

“At least, let me give you my number. When you choose a place, call me in the morning,” he smiled knowingly, holding him palm up for her phone.  

“Bold of you to assume I want to have breakfast with you,” she teased sliding her phone into his hand. He quickly saved his number, handed it back, and kissed her on the cheek before she could move.

“Fortune favors the bold.” He winked back.

A wave of heat rushed up her face, not completely uncomfortable though.

“Von! The uber is here!” Mika yelled.  Siobhan turned and walked to where her friends were summoning her.

As she was about to climb into the car, she stopped and turned back to the tall, handsome man and called, “Expect an early call, Mr. Lee!” Smiling mischievously.

He gaped at her as she shut the door and the car zoomed away. He chuckled to himself. He should’ve known someone would find him out, but he was happy it was her.

[mysticsparklewings]

The Intrigue (Brush Marker Test)

So per my poll from a few days ago, the first of my drawings made testing new supplies going up is this one! Thanks to a ton of stuff getting the glorious "Clearance" tags and stickers at my local Michaels, I finally got my hands on a 6-set of Spectrum Noir Illustrator markers, which I've been wanted to try for a long time, and thanks to a well-timed sale, I also finally got my hands on four sets of 6 and a 2-pack of the Winsor and Newton Brushmarkers that I've been wanting to try for an equally long time. I decided to put the two different kinds of markers together for this test because even with 26 markers by Winsor and Newton, I felt I was still lacking just enough colors to get a good range to work with, (this is also the reason I usually grab whatever markers from just whatever sets I have when I'm just drawing to make art and not to test specific supplies) and only having 6 Spectrum Noir markers to use...well, that would've made for a very challenging drawing, now wouldn't it? After swatching the markers out, I was really drawn to some of the colors in the Portrait set from Winsor & Newton, and after staring at my options for a while, I felt like drawing a long-haired vampire dude would be fun and get the best use out of the colors I had. So I did I will say that the one major problem I had during this process, and it's actually fairly obvious (although I did choose to accentuate it on the shirt) is that the markers kept smearing my lines. Which is strange and confusing because I used a cobalt Copic Multiliner, which is supposed to be "water and Copic proof." So you'd think since these markers are alcohol-based like Copics, that everything would be okay. Apparently not! My best guess is that this ink (mostly the Winsor and Newton markers; the Spectrum Noir markers seemed to fair a bit better) dries more slowly or has more dye/pigment in it, or something. My original thought was that I had just made some of my lines too thick, but then I had the same problem a couple of times in areas where the lines were thinner/their original weight, so there went that theory. (Although the thicker lines probably didn't help, but I did that before I knew that was going to be a problem and it wasn't like I could suck the pen ink back up to fix it.) Anyway. Other than that, I liked both kinds of markers pretty well. The Winsor and Newton markers remind me a LOT of the Prismacolor Brush Markers, which are actually my favorite of all the alcohol-based markers that I've tried. Other than visual differences between markers, and the Prismacolor markers having a brush tip and bullet tip while the W&N markers have a brush tip and chisel tip, the main thing is the tips of the W&N markers are a tiny bit softer than the Prismas, and the Prismacolor markers have slightly more friction on the paper; they "stick" a bit more, but it's a very very veeeeery subtle difference. My only issue with the Spectrum Noir markers is I'm a little concerned about how long the brush nibs are going to last. They seem like they could be in very early stages of desalinization--a thing that can happen to all alcohol-based markers, including Copics, but tends to happen more commonly in older markers or markers with a very short shelf life just because of the formula used to make the ink. In this case, I'm inclined to believe it's more to do with how long the markers have been sitting in the store, unsold. There was a thin layer of dust across the top of the box, and this was the one set of about five options available that got a clearance sticker. And so, if that is the case, I will forgive it. The other part of the nib problem though is that the nibs do seem pretty spongey/foam-like instead of more of a nylon/silicone feel like Copics or Prismacolor markers have. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does point to the nibs potentially wearing out more quickly over time and/or with heavy use. I didn't have any issues while swatching or working on this drawing, but I will be exceedingly careful to try and not push my luck going forward, just because I'm a paranoid little potato after the hot mess that was the one set of Artist Loft markers I bothered to pick up. (Those nibs, for context, were awful and have started to collapse with very little use). Other than that, I don't really have much more to comment on. Both markers blend really well, and the Winsor and Newton markers, in particular, seemed to be very forgiving in terms of not being patchy if you laid them down inconsistently, and they soften out to a smooth blend pretty well, especially if you use more of a flicking technique while layering up the colors. The shadows aren't terribly dark in part because I only had so many colors to pick from and also because I am notoriously skittish about accidentally getting my shadows too dark on my alcohol marker pieces anyway. But I think Mr. Vampire here turned out pretty good despite that. I did have to touch up a few colors in Photoshop because my scanner kinda messed them up, but I think that's more user-error and my scanner being finicky than it is any fault of the markers. Speaking of which, I did the soft green background with a Pan Pastel to tie in with the green in his eyes, and the triangle-border thing saw the triangles filled in with some tri-tone pencils (a couple by Koh-i-noor and a couple by Crayola) that I acquired recently. I thought it would breathe a little more life into things, and I think I was right. I think it also ties the otherwise random colors together a little bit more. I added the border at all because I had kinda already decided on the pose I wanted to try for a vampire character, since the kind of character was where my color options led me, and while I could have just left it without, it felt kind of lacking without something to more formally ground the character, and as I said the colors feel a bit random without something to strengthen their presence. Which is ironic because the structure of the border was almost completely random, and yet my brain looks at it and just kind of glosses over that knowledge . Overall, I like the markers and I'm happy without how my tall, pale, and mysterious character turned out. Though for some reason I get "hypnotism" vibes from the final product; I think maybe it's the pose, the nature of triangles, and the seductive part of vampire lore combined that's giving me that impression? I'm not really sure.   He's not terribly original, but I may end up using this character again in the future since I do like his general design so much and how nicely he turned out here, we'll see. ____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

[hqcentineo-blog]

late to the party — condineo

Date / Time / Location : Saturday September 29, 2018 / 12:30AM / Los Angeles, CA Background Info : After getting the cold shoulder from Lana for the better part of two weeks (much deserved after the shitty texts he sent her after a night of drinking), Noah finds out via insta story that she’s in LA. And hasn’t told him. It’s time to make this a face-to-face fight. Featuring : Lana Condor @lanacndr ; Mentioning : Camila Mendes @hqcami TRIGGER WARNING : N O N E

Noah: It was coming up on two weeks since Noah had heard from Lana; this was the longest they’d gone without communication since they’d met and it still left a bad taste in Noah’s mouth anytime this fact came to mind. His life felt off kilter, his world skewed like a wheel on a bent axis. He didn’t remember how to live a life that didn’t include her and it really annoyed him. In an attempt to forge a new normal, Noah had his boys on stand-by, a crew of friends ready to go out and hang at moments notice. But for now, he was at his house, spending some time with himself in an attempt to keep his head clear. Since he was in training for his next film, there was no booze in his house. As long as he stayed home, he was good. Lounging on his couch, Noah scrolled instagram, ignoring his flooding DMs, seeing what his friends were up to in their respective lives. After a while, he did what he always did and typed Lana’s name, watching as her profile appeared, a multicolored circle around her icon, signifying that she had added to her story. He wanted to watch it but he didn’t really want his name to appear as having watched it. After some internal debate, he tapped the screen, the image of Lana dancing in a dark club with a bunch of friends-including the likes of his other former costar Camila Mendes-appearing before his very eyes. He tapped the screen to replay the video, taking note of the unique light patterns on the wall behind the bar. He knew that place. It wasn’t in Vancouver; it was in West Hollywood. Lana was in LA and hadn’t even told him. With a three word text to the group thread, Noah jumped off the couch and ran for his bedroom to get ready. ‘WeHo. Let’s go.’

Lana: It was strange for Lana to go this long without speaking to Noah; it felt unnatural, as though something had broken, throwing her for a loop. This was her world, without him in it – and she didn't like it. Not one bit. She didn't know how to be his friend... not like this. She'd heard her fair share of voicemails, they begun filling up her inbox, and in an effort to hear his voice, she'd listen to them. Again. And again. And again. Why don't you just call him? It was her pride keeping her from taking that step, and maybe, she wanted him to understand just how hurt she was by his words. She knew he had been drunk, that it was unintentional, but she was of the thought: drunken words speak sober thoughts. Somewhere, deep down, he must have believed what he said. It must have explained why, when she knew she was going to LA, that she didn't tell him. She hadn't reached out, because she wasn't sure if she was ready to see him – or maybe she was, but she couldn't bring herself to. Not after how they left things when he was last in Vancouver, and not after the last two weeks. Gathering with her friends in town, they'd set out for a night on the town with no particular goal in mind, but to dance and drink her troubles away for the evening.Dressed in venue-appropriate attire, and make-up that accentuated her features, highlighting the apples of her cheeks, Lana had no trouble blending in with the magnanimous aesthetic of her chosen squad for the night's activities. The waving of phones and cameras at one another, filming it and sharing it for all to see. She hadn't done it to throw it in his face, in fact, she ensured the name of the venue was obscured and that there was no clear indication of where she was partying; in the case a fan or two wanted to appear, and join in on her shenanigans. Dim neon lights illuminate various line of their bodies, the music resonating over the crowd; a boisterous laugh leaving her lips as she stumbled into a booth with her friends. Dark eyes roaming the club, watching the club-goers lose themselves in the ecstasy of the setting, searching and searching, until... she sees him. Was she drunk? No, it couldn't be. It was really him. It was Noah.

Noah: The music was blasting loud enough to be heard from the other end of the block. Climbing out of the black Escalade Uber with his friends, Noah swallowed hard as he ran a hand through his hair. He was nervous. Nervous to see her, nervous to follow the plan he’d semi-constructed in his head with the hopes of getting near enough to speak to her, nervous across the board. This entire situation was beyond stupid and Noah silently cursed himself for putting them in the space they were currently inhabiting as he and his crew neared the roped off entrance to the club. A broad smile from Noah was met by a recognizing nodding from the bouncer and the red velvet rope was immediately moved aside for them, allowing he and his five best buds passage into the dark venue, much to the dismay of the line of partygoers who’d been waiting their turn. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dimness, the only source of light coming from the flashing neon colors that bounced off the walls like gumdrops. For all he knew, Lana was gone. Those videos had gone on her story nearly an hour ago and, for all he knew, this whole thing was for naught. He ordered a drink and grabbed an open booth, sitting down before allowing his gaze to scan the room. He tried his best to be nonchalant about it but he knew he more than likely looked like a creep. It was then that a girl caught his eye: he didn’t know this blonde girl personally but he knew her face. She had been on Camila’s story, wrapping Lana in a giant bear hug. Using her as a landmark, Noah began to examine the girls in her near proximity until...bingo. Lana. “Jack,” Noah said, slapping his best friend on the shoulder. “You see that blonde girl over there? Go talk to her, will ya?” In this fashion, Noah made his rounds through his friend group; for each guy, there was a girl Noah needed him to talk to until there were only two women left standing: Lana and Camila. Like a missile locked onto its target, Noah started to make his way over to where the two were sitting in a partially exposed booth. He tried to be casual about it, taking the time to stop and chat with the few people to recognized him and cared enough to stop him for a selfie. Eventually, he came up on their table. “Ladies,” he said, his voice thick with charm as if he was smoozing a stranger in the hopes of going home with her. From the looks on their faces, this course of action wasn’t going to get him anywhere. Turning his attention to Camila, Noah’s features softened. “Cam, can I talk to Lana alone for a second?” When no one moved, Noah tried to smile. “You can grab a few drinks? On me?”

Lana: She tried to imagine what she would say – how she would react if they had run into each other during her impromptu trip to LA. Lana hadn’t gotten past the initial shock, nor did she figure a passable tactic to maneuvering away from the scenario. So when faced with reality, she hadn’t any clue what to do. Except that she was going to try her absolute hardest to continue avoiding him – hoping that her loyal comrades wouldn’t leave her on the battlefield alone. But Noah was a smart enemy; he knew how to pick off her friends, one by one. She should have figured this would happen – so when there only remained her and Camila, her eyes spoke volumes: don’t leave me alone. Nodding a silent agreement, they continued to feign ignorance. Like anything, if they ignored it long enough, it would go away... but this was Noah, and he was never going to let that happen. Crafty, cunning in his efforts, but she knew better than to fold and let him have the upper hand. It was a petty mentality, because underneath the façade, she wanted to talk to him, run at him and throw her arms around him, but her pride kept her from doing so. Fingers clenched and unclenched around her near-empty beer bottle, her shining eyes flickering between a spot ahead of her, the approaching figure of Noah, and the stronghold of Camila beside her. Lana pushed at loose hair, attempting to focus her attention on the only companion that remained at her side. “You can’t leave me, no matter what you do – you can’t –“ Her plea was cut short by a familiar voice, one she’d actively tried to avoid, but spent far too much time mooning over. His question was directed at the Brazilian beauty, and when she looked over, Lana could only widen her eyes enough to get her message across: no. When no movement was made, he calculated a new approach; one that was both genius and well-thought. A sideways glance was all it took to see that Camila was considering the offer. There was no way she would take him up on it, right? She wouldn’t do that – no amount of free booze could – oh, there she goes. Shooting an apologetic, but devious smile in their direction, she begun towards the bar. Seriously?! Mentally cursing at whatever God was laughing at her expense, Lana kept her eyes trained on the swaying crowd of club goers, rather purposeful in not acknowledging Noah’s presence, as powerful as it may be. No matter how much she wanted to speak to him... she simply couldn’t give in.

Noah: He hadn’t actually excepted tactic no. 2 to work--Camila was headstrong to a tee, not unlike a bull--but with nothing more than a knowing glance, she slipped into the massive crowd in the general direction of the bar; he could only imagine the top shelf shit she would rack up on his tab, a little extra ‘fuck you for hurting my friend’ and he couldn’t really blame her. Focusing his attention back on the girl that actually mattered, Noah glanced down, painfully aware of Lana’s counterattack: look at anyone or anything but him. Smart, decisive, oh so cold and if it hadn’t been directed at him, he would have been impressed instead of overcome with the hurt that was radiating in his chest. Okay. He was here. He had her right in front of him. Now what? The plan he’d poorly established in his mind hadn’t gone this far. Apparently it was time to go off book and wing it. Either by her design or sick coincidence, Lana was seated on the very edge of the narrow booth, allowing him absolutely no room to sit down beside her. The two foot gap between his head and hers combined with the blaring music wasn’t exactly ideal for a heart-to-heart apology so he knelt, one knee hitting the slightly sticky floor until their eyes were level. “I can’t believe you would come to LA and not tell me.” That was miles away from the real issue but it seemed a natural starting point. And besides, what was he supposed to say that he hadn’t already left on her voicemail? The atmosphere was less than ideal, true, but Noah wasn’t about to suggest that Lana go anywhere with him, even if only to better hear his apology. It was a miracle in itself that she hadn’t gotten up and walked away yet; he’s just have to make due wit with what he had. “And I think you should get your phone fixed because you apparently haven’t been getting any of my calls.” These words were accompanied by a small and tentative smile, one that could either say ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I really wanna kiss you’ and, in this particular instance, it meant both. It would always mean both when it came to Lana.

Lana: Never, in the time she's known him, would she have thought possible to go so long without so much as a word to him. She was in a bind, the vines constricting every time she tried to stray further away from the path life seemed to be pushing her on – towards Noah. Always towards Noah. She hated that it was conspiring against her, holding onto him, keeping him so entirely cemented in her; every part of her ached for his presence, and as much as she wanted to just reach out to touch him... she couldn't.  Because she wasn't sure if she had forgiven him yet, if she could forgive him. Lana knew he hadn't any real option when he sauntered up, she made sure that he wouldn't be able to fit himself in beside her; she knew, if he was any closer, she might not be able to keep it up. Then... down he went, onto one knee. She eyed him carefully, being sure not to meet his gaze, completely aware of how disgusting the floor most likely was. There were so many things he could have said, to begin with – an apology would have been preferred, but what he did say happened to catch her off-guard. Pressing her lips together, she formed her own response without saying a word, eyes waning until they finally caught a glimpse of his. Her expression, meaningful, unable to vocalize the rampant thoughts running through her head. Or maybe she could put her thoughts to words, but didn't want to. Weighing up whether she should say something or not, which tipped greatly in spending the evening ignoring him when she first saw him walk in, begun to waver, the weights lifting with each passing moment. Inhaling a deep breath, she closed her eyes slowly, preparing herself to speak, but before she could – "Oh. My God. Proposal!" Her head whipped to the side of her, a tipsy bystander who somehow managed to arrive at the most importune time, where Noah was so gracefully on bended knee. Fortunately for them, most of the other people around them were either too drunk or too interested in themselves to care, and those who were looking, were eager to see what would happen next. She lifted her hands, waving them from side to side in defense, "No, no – no. We're not – he's not – this isn't a –" Unable to find the right manner in correcting him, she shook her head, bringing the palm of her head to her forehead, meeting his eyes once more, and without a word, seeing a familiar expression of amusement on his face, she burst out into laughter.

Noah: Noah liked to think-at this point in their friendship-that he had a pretty good read on Lana; he knew what each of her facial expressions meant, how she often played with her hair without even realizing it, and that those moments during rehearsals and table reads when she clicked her pen excessively meant she was excited, not nervous. And yet, in this instance, Noah searched her features and came up with nothing. Absolutely nothing. He had no idea how she felt now that he was in front of her, now that she had could no longer use her phone as a buffer between them. Her eyes, usually the most expressive thing about her, gave away nothing and he couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt for extinguishing that light. He missed it. He missed everything about her and the friendship they’d had a mere handful of days ago; crazy how quickly things could be torn down. Her lips twitched as if words were finally going to come but before they could, someone shouted over the music and Noah’s head whipped around to find the source. A group of Barbie doll girls were looking on, pointing and giggling in his direction and it was only then that Noah could get out of his own head enough to see his current situation from an outsider’s perspective: down on one knee, head bent inward in an attempt to better hear the words she wasn’t even saying. “No-it’s not what you think-oh my god...” Embarrassment rose hot on the back of his neck for a moment before Lana burst into laughter and Noah couldn’t help but follow suit. They probably looked absolutely ridiculous and Noah silently thanked the universe for the favorable - if not unforeseen - repercussions of his actions. Laughter was a lovely ice breaker and goddam he had missed hearing that laugh. “Look,” he said once their laughter had died down. “At this point, you have two options: one, say no to this proposal, break my heart, and be the villain in the love story those ladies over there have created in their heads or two, say yes and then we go find a quiet place to really talk this shit out and let them think we’re going to screw each other’s brains out in the bathroom. Your move, LC.”

Lana: Despite it all, she hadn’t many options left in the way of avoiding him or ignoring him. This unplanned and unintended turn of events left her at a standstill, and she bested her options when some drunken idiot proclaimed Noah was proposing – there was no right way to go about things, but as it all unfolded, she considered his proposal carefully. She could spend the rest of her evening, trying to ignore him, battling a fueled desire to be around him... or she could stop being petulant, and actually speak with him. Glancing past him for a moment, searching the crowd for signs of her friends, she caught many of them looking back, expressions of curiosity and encouragement urging her to do something... anything. Finally, she returned her gaze to Noah, tentatively rising from her seat, she held her hand out for him, “Okay, let’s go screw in a bathroom stall somewhere.” Whilst her decision to go off with Noah would appear scandalous to those who didn’t know any better – much like the bystanders that were bold to assume that they were engaged. Jesus Christ, she was too young to start thinking about it. It was a familiar, welcome sensation have his hand in hers again. Something she hadn’t realized she’d been missing, until they were right in this moment. It was obvious that Lana was leading them through the crowd, towards the empty booths that resided beyond a certain area of the club – it was where people went for privacy, and in many cases... a popular hook-up spot for those who sought discretion. Not that that was what was going to happen between her and Noah – not at all. Once she was satisfied that nobody would bother them, she detached herself from her best friend, arms crossed firmly over her chest, looking him dead-set in his eyes. Her expression holding a hint of hostility, a sigh on her lips, “Well?”

Noah: Returning to a full standing position, Noah held out a hand in an effort to help Lana to her feet. The moment their hands touched, he felt that surge of electricity again, the same thing he’d felt slow dancing in her Vancouver apartment that night and his suspicions were confirmed: no amount of distance nor time would be changing how he felt about her. Noah followed her lead and allowed the tiny actress to pull him through the crowded dance floor, past his friends - none of whom give two shits what was happening with him. Once the duo ducked behind a curtain and into a private cabana-like lounge room, he released Lana’s hand, the nagging thought that he was the last person she probably wanted touching her gnawing at his heart. She wasted no time in jumping right into this new battle, one being fought face-to-face, the first of it’s kind in this war they’d crafted. Her arms crossed across her body like a shield as if she was preparing herself for the damage he was about to cause, trying to steady herself against the gale force winds that were his words. Well? Well what? What was he suppose to say? Repeat the things he’d left on her voicemail? If she’d listened to any of them, she showed no indication. “Well...I’m sorry. I’m really sorry for what happened. Sorry that I got drunk and texted you those things. It was bullshit. I was just looking for any excuse to get a reaction out of you and I used the easiest route which was that garbage about Anthony. It was a fucked up move. I know that. And I’ve spent the last two weeks hating myself for fucking everything up between us.” That seemed to be a tidy little summary of fourteen ignored voicemails. His brown eyes never left hers, flicking back and forth, desperate in his search to find even the smallest glimmer of hope for moving past this. So far? Nothing.

Lana: A heavy sensation fell over her heart – remnants of the pain she’d ruminated in for the last two weeks began to make themselves known, clawing at every bit that cared for him... clawing at every single inch of her. She knew love, and she knew what wanting someone could do to her, but there was nothing like what she felt for Noah. There was no way to describe how she felt – and for him to throw it back in her face truly cut deep. As she stood there, each word spilling from him and at her feet, waiting for her to pick them up and untie the binds that kept him at a distance. Her breathing was hollow, her eyes softening, the arms crossed slump slightly. God, she wished he didn’t make her so weak at the knees. Swallowing thick, Lana bit down on her bottom lip, her voice soft, struggling to find strength in this moment: “You hurt me, Noah.” Boy, did he hurt her. Shaking her head, she sucked in her bottom lip, “You said cruel things and then went –“ A pause, recalling the image she had in her head of Noah being with some tall and beautiful woman, “Went and slept with somebody that...” She couldn’t tell him that she had been jealous, or that she wanted him to want her. The distant pounding of the club’s music sifted through the tense air that danced between them, holding her hostage from turning around and leaving him without a word. A sigh left her lips in a hurry, and she glanced past him for a moment, unable to meet his gaze, “You hurt me, and I hated that you could hurt me like that – you... were meant to be the guy. My guy.”

Noah: Noah peered down at Lana as she spoke, one hand running nervously through his mess of wavy brown locks. “Went and slept with somebody that...” Is that what this was truly all about? Was this the true root of the reason that she was so unbelievably upset? He secretly hoped so because this issue had a very easy fix. “I didn’t sleep with that girl that night.” His statement hung in the space between them for a beat, tiny words coming together to form one giant confession. “I - look, I went back to her place and I just...I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to do it.” I couldn’t do it because she wasn’t you. I didn’t want to do it because she wasn’t you.Noah tried his damndest to allow Lana to search his eyes; hopefully they would prove to her that he was telling the truth and not just trying to talk his way out of this mess. Her final few words fell from her lips, leaving Noah stunned into silence. The guy. My guy. What?! What did that mean? Did she mean that in the same way she’d always meant it? As her guy that wasn’t actually her guy? Or did she mean it in a real way, a new way, a way that she’d never before applied to him? “I never wanted to hurt you. Never ever. Everything got so fucked up so quick. You’re the last person in the world that I would ever want to hurt, Lana. If you don’t believe anything else I say, you gotta believe that.”While she had previously done an excellent job at avoiding his gaze, he caught her, their eyes locking as if seeing each other for the very first time. “I love you, Lans. I’m sorry for hurting you.” The tension between them was still palpable but it was shifting - at least a piece of it was. He could feel his heart begin to race the way it had in the moments before his last failed attempt at revealing his feelings. It felt like he had just finished sprinting a four minute mile; if he didn’t move soon, his heart would burst. A large step toward and large hands were gripping slender shoulders, lips meeting with an utterly insatiable hunger. He pulled her against him - an instinct - as their kiss deepened. Finally, for the first time in weeks, he was able to shut his brain off and move on autopilot, finally giving into the temptation he’d stood so firmly against for so long. And it felt so damn good.

Lana: There were not enough words to explain how she felt, beneath all the hurt and anger she’d subjected herself to over the last two weeks. Fingers clamped and unwound themselves, brown eyes reading everything his mouth wasn’t saying. Leaving her breathless, from relenting on the green-eyed monster that had plagued her, to the sudden rush of liberation from hearing his truth, only allowing herself to know one side... her own. That didn’t change the fact that he had said something cruel – something he couldn’t take back, even if he tried. His apology brought on a new concoction of emotions; I love you, Lans. I’m sorry for hurting you. Her hands searched the dimly lit booth for his, taking them into hers. No hesitation, just knowing he was there, meaning every single word. Lana wished she could say that hearing him tell her he loved her – even if it wasn’t in the way she hoped... he loved her, nonetheless. She couldn’t ignore the sincerest of expressions on his face, her affection and love for him winning out over her stubbornness. With a small smile, “I believe you, Noah. And more than anything,” she paused, her shoulders lifting into a shrug, “I love you too much to pretend that I didn’t miss you, because I did.” Before anything else could be said, he caught her by surprise. His lips, met with hers. Instead of fighting it, she gave in far too willingly to him. Finding sense, without losing herself entirely to him, she pulled away, keeping him at arm’s length. “Noah,” she gasped, rather breathless. Her gaze explored his face, trying to justify why this shouldn’t be happening. Find some rationality; but there was none to be had... not right now. Fighting the better part of her judgement, “Oh, screw it.” She immediately threw her hands over his shoulders, and reignited a flame that she thought would disappear, but it was persistent. Her light was Noah wasn’t going anywhere. Lips pressing against his, everything she could... she wanted to give him. Lana’s small frame fitting easily with his.

Noah: The fact that Noah entered that roped off VIP room with a best-friend-turned-enemy and was about to leave it having not only mended their broken friendship but taken it to a whole other level was laughable. Not laughable in a ‘ha ha that’s funny’ sort of way but in a way that used laughter to express how completely unforeseen life could sometimes be. Never in a million years did the young actor think this was how his night would turn out but he couldn’t truthfully say he was mad about it. From his spot on the sleek white leather couch, he watched Lana’s figure redress in the darkness of their secluded hideout. In the aftermath of their impulsive exploit, there lingered the smallest amount of awkwardness; now that they’d made up, normalcy was meant to set back in. But they’d gone ahead and once again changed the landscape of their friendship leaving new terrain to navigate. “Well...” Noah said, breaking the quiet as he rebuttoned his jeans. “That just happened.” Using humor to break up a potential uncomfortable situation? Classic Noah. He shot Lana a soft smile, unsure if he was supposed to lean in and kiss her, despite wanting to. As happy as he was, the uncertainty of what this meant for their future held him back from fully savoring the moment. He was set to leave for Berlin in a matter of days to start filming his new movie; to say this new development came at an inopportune time was an understatement. “Any regrets?” 

Lana: Lana had flown into LA with every intention of leaving without Noah knowing a single thing – there was no plan to follow, but a clear path that didn’t include him. However, her path changed and manifested until it brought her straight to him. It was on a path that she couldn’t have predicted. What. Just. Happened?! No one could have anticipated that the evening would have unfolded the way it did – when she agreed to talk with him, it was a chance to mend what was broken between them, move on and have her friend back. Instead, she found herself losing all inhibition and letting their bodies do the talking, now shimmying back into her skirt, her sheer bralette peaking through the top of her blouse. She eyed Noah clinically. She wanted to know what was running through his mind. Her lips pressed together, worried lines appearing along her forehead. His voice drew her out of her own reveling, eyes searching for his through the dark space. With a small smile of her own, she leaned her head back against the couch. “When I said we should go screw each other in a bathroom stall, I didn’t mean it literally,” her voice soft and teasing, before her previous tentativeness returned to her features. She was tiptoeing around it. Did she have any regrets? Fuck no. She was more concerned on whether he had any regrets. Shaking her head, she gave a little smile, “No... no regrets.” She glanced down, afraid to hear what he might say. Where did they go from here? Did they simply go back to being best friends and act like this had never happened? Lana barely understood what had just transpired between them, and couldn’t imagine what could happen next. Pursing her lips, she touted from side to side. Hesitation in her voice, “Do you have any regrets?”

Noah: Noah let out a small laugh at her reference to a comment made what felt like hours ago, the tension momentarily dispersing. He would have given anything in this moment to know what she was thinking and feel how she was feeling. “So many. Aaaaall the regrets.” After pulling his dark grey shirt back onto his body, Noah found Lana’s eyes in the darkness, her slightly furrowed brow and tightly drawn lips making it clear his joke wasn’t landing. Reaching out, Noah took both her hands in his, twisting his body until he could face her head on, his left leg bent out to the side in the space between them with his knee pressed gently against the back cushion of the couch. “No. No regrets at all,” he said, reassuring her with a tight squeeze of her hands in his. “How could I possibly regret doing that? Look at you. I mean...goddam. Total smoke show.” He hoped his words would put both their minds at ease but they probably wouldn’t; life was too complicated sometimes. He released her hands before saying, “Look, I need you to know that this--” he motioned back and forth in the space between them. “Wasn’t part of my plan. I didn’t come here tonight with this being a - a goal or anything. I don’t want you thinking that it was or feeling taken advantage of or anything like that. I hope you don’t, anyway.” He swallowed hard as if trying to force back down the next part of the conversation that needed to be had. “But...I need to be honest with you. News is going to break in the next few days that I got a role in a Charlie’s Angels reboot and filming starts next week...in Berlin.” Unsure of how she would react, Noah found himself holding his breath, anxiety building beneath his skin. If their actions tonight and the timing of it all caused him to lose her again, just when he got her back, he would hate himself. “So...I don’t really know how we’re supposed to proceed from here. Or what this all means for us.”

Lana: When Lana imagined her first time with Noah, in any scenario, she never imagined it'd be in some private booth in a dark LA nightclub – but the truth of the matter was, it was almost perfect. It was infinitely better than her imagination, and by God, she hoped she wasn't holding onto some semblance of fantasy when he was right there. With a sigh, Lana held her head against his chest, shielding her face from his view.  His words... his reassurance painting a smile on a rather solemn expression. She couldn't quite find the right words. He had no regrets and that meant something. Finally, after a moment's deliberation, he uttered his next project which would have him flying halfway across the world – bringing her attention upwards, her dark eyes met his once more, searching for an answer – anything that wouldn't have her feel like that this was a last hurrah before he disappeared on her. No, that's not what was happening. He was sitting there, being open and honest. He was telling her what she deserved to hear. She couldn't forget that. "You're... going to Berlin?" Her voice is surprised, a hint of pride evident. Of course she was proud of him. She wanted him to succeed, because of who he was and the talent that coursed through his veins. Her eyes told him nothing, that is until her hands come to rest on either side of his face. A smile, small at first, growing as she spoke, "Noah – this is amazing. I am so proud of you, and –" Well, she had no clue what any of it meant for them either. This wasn't part of the plan. None of this was – neither of them knew what was going to happen, nor what wold happen next, except that it was happening, and they had to make it work. However that may be. Rubbing her thumb over his right cheek, she scrunched her face and lifted her shoulders into a small shrug. "I don't know, either, but... maybe this doesn't have to be the be-all or end-all for us. I know I love having you as my best friend, and I know that I really liked what just happened... maybe we can just... say that this happened, and we can figure it out later?"

Noah: A sense of sheer relief overcame him as Lana’s features broke from blank to pride, his own lips spreading into a wide grin as she vocalized her approval. “I’m so fucking stoked and it feels amazing to actually tell someone. It feels good to tell *you*. You were the first call I wanted to make when my agent called but...y’know...” Noah nodded slowly as she continued her thoughts. “I don’t want this to be the end for us. That’s the last thing I want. But I also don’t want anything to fuck up our friendship. I can’t lose you again, Lans. So let’s go outside, dance like psychos, and figure the other shit out later.” Lana was probably the only girl who wouldn’t make this into a huge deal; reason #1023982 why he adored this chick so goddam much. “But if **this** happens again in the not-too-far-off future, I wouldn’t be mad about it. Just fyi.” Standing, he extended a hand. “Dance with me, LC. Let’s go let everyone know World War III is officially over by grinding all over each other.” After she placed her hand in his, he looped his arm around her shoulders, anchoring their bodies together as they rejoined the rest of their fellow club-goers, their entwined hands on full display. 

[droneseco]

Canon M50 Mk II: Is It Really That Bad?

Canon M50 Mk II

9.20 / 10

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If you're looking for a starter camera that makes your photos and videos pop, you can’t go wrong with the EOS M50 Mk II.

Key Features

Lightweight

YouTube Streaming

Vertical Shooting Mode

4K video (Cropped)

Flip-Out Display

Mirrorless

Hot Shoe Mount

Specifications

Brand: Canon

Sensor Size: CMOS APS-C 22.3mm x 14.9mm

Video Resolution: 3840 x 2160

Photo Resolution: 6000 x 4000

Battery: Yes

Connection: USB, HDMI, Audio In

Size: 4.6 x 3.5 x 2.3 inches (Body only)

Weight: 387 g

Water Resistance: No

Lens: 15 - 45 mm kit lens ; EF-M mount

Pros

Easy to Use

Onboard Mic Input

Clean HDMI Out

Vlogging Beast

Wide Range of Accessories

Photos and Videos are Stunning

Durablity

Cons

Battery Life

Only Slight Upgrade from Original

Kit Lens is Just Okay

Canon App is Terrible

Buy This Product

Canon M50 Mk II amazon

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F-Stops. ISO. Shutter Speed. Autofocus. The Exposure Triangle. Focal Length. 35mm vs. 50mm. Full-Frame vs. Micro Four Thirds. Mirrorless vs. DSLR. As a beginner, this is a short list of terms that you’ll be expected to know to get the best out of a consumer-grade camera.

While there is no substitute for good-old-fashioned-experimentation when it comes to shooting photos, sometimes you want to grab your camera and take a decent picture. But maybe you want to live out your Casey Neistat dreams of being the next Youtube Vlog sensation. Heck, maybe you'd like to use a camera that doesn’t come with a monthly service plan or double as a handheld Bejeweled Blitz machine.

If only there were an entry-level camera that could help you solve those problems without costing a small fortune. If only a camera could take great photos without generating snotty looks from mustachioed hipsters effortlessly wielding their $8,000 Leicas. Well, folks, allow me to introduce you to the Canon EOS M50 Mk II.

The EOS M50 Mk II is the new 24.1-megapixel, mirrorless camera that improves upon the M50 Mk I from 2018. It uses the DIGIC 8 processor, designed to improve image quality even at higher ISO speeds. The EOS M50 Mk II can shoot 4K—more on that in a moment—at 24 frames per second (FPS); and shoot 1080P up to 60 FPS. The maximum video image size is 3840 x 2160.

Canon considers this its "entry-level" offering, and I am inclined to agree. But, with the entry-level price point and consumer in mind, that means the camera offers several features that make it easy for the average person to use. I think that's one of the EOS M50 Mk II's biggest strengths.

What’s in the Box?

The Canon EOS M50 Mk II Body

15-45mm Zoom lens

Owner’s Manual

Battery

Charger

Lens caps

The Canon M50 Mk II is the second iteration of the previous Canon M50 mirrorless camera staple in the YouTube vlogging world. A search on YouTube yields an almost endless supply of M50 videos. Seriously, everyone has this camera.

The wide use means there's also an abundance of accessories available for the M50 Mark II, including lenses, cages, speed-boosters, USB power adapters, 110v A/C plug-in power supplies, and much more.

So, what makes the EOS M50 Mk II better than the original? And why should you fork over an additional $50 bucks on top of the price of the original M50 for the standard Mk II body-and-kit-lens package? And what about all that negative press?! Isn’t the M50 Mk II just a software update to the original M50?

Yes. Essentially the hardware for the M50 Mk II is the same as the original M50. And Yes, the Mk II is essentially just a software update from the original. Don’t listen to the haters, though. You should still buy the Mk II unless you're only planning on taking photos.

Related: Common Camera Lenses and When to Use Them

But why? Well, mostly because I think it adds $50 worth of additional features that you’re not going to get if you decide to buy the original.

Features like autofocus improvements, and a clean HDMI out, which means that you can plug the M50 MK II into a desktop monitor to gaze into your own pretty face while filming for your adoring YouTube fanbase, or record to an external device.

There’s also better battery life. That means about 1/3 more photos than the original M50, not to mention more video footage. And the Mk II offers improvements to autofocus, as well as a new feature—eye-tracking focus. Plus, you can use autofocus while the AI Servo AF is active—a feature that makes motion capture simple and is absent from the original M50.

Is the EOS M50 Mk II an Upgrade?

If you’re going to make a decently large purchase for a camera that is around $700, then you want the absolute maximum of features packed into whatever you buy. While the original M50 is still a great camera, it’s not the best for vlogging, and the camera’s anemic battery life has been flagged more than once. Of course, you could always spend a little extra and buy another battery if you like. That’s a great way to go as well. Or you could buy the Mk II.

Then there's the autofocus. Canon is famous for its dual pixel autofocus. I won’t get into the jargon-y specifics because I don’t like to bore my readers, but what you need to know is this: Canon's dual pixel autofocus is awesome.

It’s great for videos and normal photography alike. It’s also fast. Eye-controlled focus (eye-tracking) adds to the dual pixel autofocus by accentuating the subject’s eyes while shooting.

It’s generally accepted that if you want to take good portraits, then you should focus—no pun—on the eyes of your subject. The eye-tracking focus feature makes it easy to do just that.

In addition to the improvements in autofocus, Canon added a vertical video shooting mode designed for your favorite photo and video-based social media platforms. The company has added wireless YouTube streaming (though YouTube restrictions mean you'll need over 1,000 subscribers), and you get that clean HDMI out so that if you’re streaming via the HDMI port, you don’t have to stare at the on-camera settings.

Related: A Complete Guide to the Exposure Triangle in Photography

This on-camera info display was a huge gripe for a lot of folks with the original EOS M50. With that model, whenever you connected an external display, there was no way to turn off the busy informational display settings. The Mk II changes that.

While we’re on the subject of minor gripes with the M50 Mark I, let’s talk about a feature that the Mark II has that the Mark I didn't. The flip-out screen record button.

That means you can now reach over and tap the on-screen button to start your video while you can still see yourself in the frame. The new on-screen record button is a little thing, but it’s something that the vlogging crowd and I certainly appreciate.

The M50 Mark II also makes it quick to get up and running. Charge the battery, pop on the lens, insert a memory card and get shooting. Additionally, for all of you colorists, the Mk II can shoot in a mostly flat color profile with a little software tweaking. But, I should note that it won't shoot LOG.

Did I mention that the M50 Mk II can be used with Zoom and OBS or the Canon EOS Webcam Utility as a webcam? It can, and it is also fabulous for this purpose as long as you have enough battery life to support it.

Personally, I bought an adapter that allows me to plug the camera into an AC cable and plug that cable into the wall. I love it. Every time I use the M50 Mk II as a webcam, I get bombarded with questions about my setup.

For the best use of this feature, I'd recommend you look into the 22mm f2.0 lens that Canon offers for the EF-M mount cameras. This lens gives you a wider shot and a larger aperture than the 15-45mm kit lens that the M50 ships with.

Related: Simple Ways to Improve the Quality of Your Photos

Ease of Use

Arguably the biggest benefit of the Mark II is how easy it is to pick up and use. Unfortunately, the kit lens isn’t the sharpest, and the f/3.5 aperture doesn’t lend itself to the type of creamy bokeh that you’re used to seeing in professional portrait photography. Still, for amateur photographers looking to get their feet wet, this is a great package.

For point-and-shoot photography, the 15-45mm kit lens is more than enough to make your photos pop. Though, you should know that low-light settings are going to require increased ISO. Past 400 things start to get a little grainy, but most photos don’t really suffer until you’re around the 800+ mark.

The one thing the 15-45mm kit lens is excellent at is vlog content creation. Paired with a small on-camera shotgun mic and a gimbal or GorillaPod, this setup is a vlogging beast. It’s no wonder so many YouTubers—some with several hundred thousand followers—use their EOS M50 as their primary run-and-gun rig.

While the Canon’s mic preamp is slightly lacking, using this setup with both the Rode VideoMicro and the Takstar Sgc-598 provided plenty of decent quality audio capture. A little normalization and compression in post were all it took to get decent quality sound.

Related: How to Take Care of Your Camera Lenses

Is the M50 Mk II Durable?

It is, and I want to take a moment to focus on its durability. Now I admit, I am not the most careful person when it comes to my equipment. That’s why, when I managed to knock over my tripod not once but twice, with the M50 Mk II on top of it, I almost wound up on blood pressure meds.

Both times I thought I was going to scoop up a camera with some extreme damage. Maybe a broken viewfinder or a smashed touch screen.

Well, I am happy to report that my Canon M50 Mk II doesn’t have a scratch on it. The lenses aren’t cracked or damaged, and the display is clear and sharp. The body of the camera looks like it was just taken out of the box.

There are really only two possibilities for why this is: either I’m lucky (and I certainly need to be more careful with my equipment) or, maybe the M50 Mk II is a pretty durable unit for even the most buttery of fingers.

What's Not to Love About the M50 Mk II?

After a few weeks using the M50 MK II, I can honestly say I have only a couple of complaints. First is the cropped image in 4K. While this camera is touted as a 4K camera and perfectly capable of recording in 4K, the sensor will dump a large portion of its field of view. This is an additional 1.6x crop over the APS-C crop of 1.6x (2.56x total). Also, while in the 4K mode, you lose Canon’s delicious dual pixel autofocus.

This isn’t really a problem for me, as I don’t like shooting in 4K anyway. Even when I am creating content, I prefer to shoot at 24 FPS in 1080p full HD. Footage shot at 24 FPS has that cinematic look that I adore, and I can use the autofocus to make sure all of my shots are effortlessly tack sharp.

Second, on this list is the Canon iOS app. I hate it. It’s buggy, it’s clunky, it crashes often, and it constantly makes me reset the Wi-Fi settings of the camera to use my phone as a wireless display. The app drives me absolutely insane, and if any Canon app developers are reading—shame on you.

Last on the list is the digital viewfinder. While it works well as a viewfinder, the sensor next to the viewfinder might give me an aneurysm. Whenever I am using the camera for Zoom meetings, I find the sensor will shut off the external display if it is near a reflective surface—namely, the watercolor painting hanging above my desk. Fortunately, this sensor can be disabled in the menu for the M50 Mk II.

Should You Buy the Canon EOS M50 Mk II?

I think you know the answer to this question by now. If you don’t, then get your credit card out; it’s time to do some camera buying. The original M50 was a great all-around camera. The Mark II adds several improvements aimed at content creators and vloggers. If you fit that description, and you can’t afford to spend $3,000 to improve your smartphone shots, then the M50 MK II is a great choice.

If you are looking to start a YouTube channel, then the M50 Mk II has enough features to keep you busy for a while. You might eventually outgrow it, though some YouTubers continue with the M50 well into the six-figure subscriber counts.

If you need a camera that will allow you to level up your photographs, this is the camera to buy. And while you’re at it, think about upgrading from the kit lens to the Canon 32mm F1.4. It’s how I get most of my product photography shots. Finally, if you need a small and lightweight camera for taking on the road or for street photography, the M50 Mark II isn’t cumbersome and doesn’t draw a lot of attention.

On the other hand, if you’re a die-hard camera enthusiast who breathes shutter speeds, or if you can spot the difference between a nifty 50 and a 35mm at 300 yards, then you’re better off buying something a little more high-end. Additionally, if the thought of auto-anything makes you shudder (pun intended), then save up for a while and buy a Sony A7s III. You’ll be much happier.

Final Focus on the EOS M50 Mark II

Overall, the M50 Mk II is a delightful starter camera. Canon makes it easy for a total beginner to pick up the unit and get some great photos off the rip. That’s really what makes it excellent. It has a diverse range of functions for both budding photogs and experienced users alike. Unfortunately, it won’t compete with some of the more expensive models, but for regular people who want a camera that makes their photos look great without much effort, you can’t go wrong with the EOS M50 Mk II.

Ignore the crowd that says this camera is “disappointing.” It’s not. It just has a specific purpose, and what it is designed to do—namely, be an entry-level vlogging camera with excellent photo capability—it does well.

Though the M50 Mark II might not make you a YouTube star, it will help you get started.

Canon M50 Mk II: Is It Really That Bad? published first on http://droneseco.tumblr.com/

[eveningcoffee-morningregret-blog]

5 Top Tips to Getting a Great Tailor - Suits and Shirts Tailoring Guide

Everyone has their very own preferences as it pertains to clothes, there's no secret there. But if you have ever wondered why some individuals always seem to possess clothes "that just fit" and hug their health?? I could tell at this point you there is a great chance that man or woman's secret is a target or seamstress. When companies manufacture their clothes they use a general shirt pattern which obviously changes according to create or size, you need to remember why these patterns are made to cater for a wide range of different body types, as a result allows these companies a much better opportunity to profit by selling a good volume of their products and reducing the chances of getting dead stock (stock that is lying around in storage).

If you prefer your clothes to suit perfect you need to pay for a specialist and to allow them to tailor to the human body specifications exactly you will need to either provide them along with your measurements or even better go in person. I would suggest moving in person whilst the tailor can pin around your body for a better fit, this allows you to ensure you still have full mobility after alterations are made to your clothing. I tailor my clothes to tightly hug my body because I believe it is much more comfortable for me, but every person is significantly diffent and you must get your clothes tailored to your liking. You can find quality tailors anywhere in the world. Maybe you're a little strapped for cash but are off for any occasion in Thailand, PERFECT!!!!! You'll find quality tailors in Bangkok no problems there are literally hundreds of these and for the price tag on a high quality tailor made Armani suit, you can have a vacation and half dozen custom made suits. Thailand is a good place to get quality tailors so this might be an selection for you. OK so maybe you don't have the money to take a holiday and get a number of custom suits in Thailand, but you have a bunch of nice dress shirts you want to fit well. As I said you can find 1000s of quality tailors all all over the world and you'll find a target in New York City (NYC) or you'll find yourself an extremely posh well spoken English tailor in London all for affordable prices, this obviously is all circumstantial upon your location. The trick is to look around. Find a custom you want and get alongside, because if you manage to get one that does incredible work you'll without doubt be seeing lots of him/her in the future. My tailor actually gives me large discounts because I have now been going to him for many years and have created a close professional relationship with him, if I have any queries regarding tailoring he is the very first person I call, while he knows my own tastes and the limitations to tailoring he can give me a member of family notion of if something of clothing may be altered BEFORE I purchase it. This is only the case because I have formed a professional friendship with him which benefits both of us. The greatest tip I often will offer you towards forming a similar create is always to continually search until you will find a custom that you connect with, it's that connection which provides the tailor repeat business and you a great deal of savings when you really need your clothing alterations done;) Be particular about your tailor, don't settle for a low priced looking tailoring store, it doesn't matter when it IS CHEAP but it does matter if IT LOOKS CHEAP... why??? Because if they don't take any pride in how their tailoring shop looks, then there's a great chance that they don't take any pride within their work either. Which means the quality they produce may possibly not be as much as par and the whole point of going to an expert is to possess it done right. The 5 main ideas to looking great in tailored clothes; 1. Physically go in and get the tailor to take your measurements prior to making clothing alterations 2. Find a target or seamstress that you're comfortable with, and produce a professional friendship with-this will save you money

3. Tailor your clothes at a nice looking tailor store- because if they don't take pride inside their store they probably don't take pride in their work!!! 4. Always tailor your clothes- It's common knowledge that fitted clothes look more attractive, accentuate the right places by getting professionals to produce alterations to your clothes. 5. Enter shape- that one will impact your lifetime more than just looking good, but feeling good may benefit your daily life overall making you a happier person. Imagine the design on the ladies faces whenever a guy with a great build and well fitted clothes walks through the door, not to mention the jealousy the other guys may have of you. In the event that you genuinely wish to look unbelievable hit that gym in order to tailor your clothes around your well sculpted body. Find out more info ร้านตัดสูท

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5 Top Ideas to Finding a Great Tailor - Suits and Shirts Tailoring Guide

Everyone has their own preferences in regards to clothes, there's no secret there. But when you yourself have ever wondered why some individuals always seem to possess clothes "that just fit" and hug their bodies?? I can tell at this point you there is a good chance that man or woman's secret is a custom or seamstress. When companies manufacture their clothes they make use of a general shirt pattern which obviously changes according to style or size, you'll need to keep in mind these patterns are made to cater for a wide selection of different body types, therefore allows these companies a much better opportunity to profit by selling a good volume of their products and reducing the chances of having dead stock (stock that's lying around in storage).

If you prefer your clothes to fit just right you'll need to pay an expert and to allow them to tailor to your body specifications exactly you will need to either provide them together with your measurements or better yet go in person. I recommend planning person whilst the tailor can pin around your body for a larger fit, this allows you to make sure that you still have full mobility after alterations are created to your clothing. I tailor my clothes to tightly hug my body because I think it is convenient for me, but each person is different and you ought to get your clothes tailored to your liking. You will find quality tailors anywhere in the world. Maybe you're only a little strapped for cash but are off for a holiday in Thailand, PERFECT!!!!! You'll find quality tailors in Bangkok no problems you can find literally hundreds of them and for the buying price of a top quality customized Armani suit, you could have any occasion and half a dozen customized suits. Thailand is a good place to get quality tailors so this might be an option for you. OK so maybe you do not have the money to go on a holiday and get a lot of custom suits in Thailand, but you've a number of nice dress shirts you would like to fit well. As I said you will find thousands of quality tailors all around the world and you will find a custom in New York City (NYC) or you can find yourself a really posh well spoken English tailor in London all for very reasonable prices, this obviously is all circumstantial upon your location. The trick is to look around. Find a tailor you like and get along side, because if you manage to get one that does incredible work you will undoubtedly be seeing lots of him/her in the future. My tailor actually gives me large discounts because I have been planning to him for several years and have created a close professional relationship with him, if I have any queries regarding tailoring he is the very first person I call, while he knows my personal tastes and the limitations to tailoring he can give me a relative idea of whether or not something of clothing can be altered BEFORE I purchase it. This really is only the case because I have formed a professional friendship with him which benefits both of us. The greatest tip I can probably give you towards forming the same put up is to continually search until you find a custom that you relate solely to, it's that connection which will take the tailor repeat business and you a great deal of savings if you want your clothing alterations done;) Be particular about your tailor, don't accept a low priced looking tailoring store, it doesn't matter when it IS CHEAP but it will matter if IT LOOKS CHEAP... why??? Because if they don't take any pride in how their tailoring shop looks, then there's a great chance that they don't take any pride in their work either. Which means the standard they produce may not be around par and the whole point of likely to an expert is to possess it done right. The 5 main ideas to looking great in tailored clothes; 1. Physically go in and get the tailor to take your measurements before making clothing alterations 2. Find a custom or seamstress that you're comfortable with, and create a professional friendship with-this will save you money

3. Tailor your clothes at a nice looking tailor store- because if they do not take pride in their store they most likely don't take pride in their work!!! 4. Always tailor your clothes- It's common knowledge that fitted clothes look more desirable, accentuate the proper places by getting professionals to produce alterations to your clothes. 5. Enter shape- this one will impact your daily life more than just looking good, but feeling good may benefit your life overall making you a happier person. Imagine the look on the ladies faces whenever a guy with a great build and well fitted clothes walks through the doorway, and of course the jealousy another guys can have of you. In the event that you really want to look unbelievable hit that gym to help you tailor your clothes around your well sculpted body. Find out more info ร้านตัดสูท

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5 Top Suggestions to Getting a Great Tailor - Suits and Shirts Tailoring Guide

Everybody has their particular preferences in regards to clothes, there's no secret there. But if you have ever wondered why some individuals always seem to have clothes "that just fit" and hug their health?? I will tell at this point you there is a great chance that man or woman's secret is a tailor or seamstress. When companies manufacture their clothes they make use of a general shirt pattern which obviously changes according to style or size, you need to consider why these patterns are made to cater for a wide selection of different body types, this in turn allows these companies a much better opportunity to profit by selling a great level of their products and reducing the chances of having dead stock (stock that is lying around in storage).

If you'd like your clothes to suit perfect you need to pay for a professional and to allow them to tailor to the body specifications exactly you will have to either provide them together with your measurements or even better go in person. I recommend going in person since the tailor can pin around the human body for a larger fit, this also allows you to ensure that you still have full mobility after alterations are created to your clothing. I tailor my clothes to tightly hug my body because I believe it is convenient for me, but each person is different and you ought to get your clothes tailored to your liking. You will find quality tailors anywhere in the world. Maybe you're a little strapped for cash but are off for any occasion in Thailand, PERFECT!!!!! You can find quality tailors in Bangkok no problems you can find literally hundreds of these and for the price tag on a top quality customized Armani suit, you could have a vacation and six tailor made suits. Thailand is a good place to find quality tailors so this can be an choice for you. OK so maybe you don't have the money to take any occasion and get a lot of custom suits in Thailand, but you've a lot of nice dress shirts you would like to fit well. As I said you will find a large number of quality tailors all all over the world and you'll find a tailor in New York City (NYC) or you'll find yourself an extremely posh well spoken English tailor in London all for very affordable prices, this obviously is all circumstantial upon your location. The trick is to check around. Find a tailor you want and get alongside, because if you manage to locate one that does incredible work you'll undoubtedly be seeing plenty of him/her in the future. My tailor actually gives me large discounts because I have now been going to him for several years and have created a detailed professional relationship with him, if I have any queries regarding tailoring he is the very first person I call, because he knows my personal tastes and the limitations to tailoring he can give me a member of family concept of whether an item of clothing can be altered BEFORE I purchase it. That is only the case because I've formed a professional friendship with him which benefits both of us. The biggest tip I can probably offer you towards forming an identical set up is always to continually search until you discover a custom that you relate genuinely to, it's that connection which will take the tailor repeat business and you a great deal of savings when you need your clothing alterations done;) Be particular about your tailor, don't accept a cheap looking tailoring store, it doesn't matter when it IS CHEAP but it will matter if IT LOOKS CHEAP... why??? Because if they do not take any pride in the way their tailoring shop looks, then there is a really good chance that they don't take any pride in their work either. This means that the product quality they produce might not be as much as par and the complete point of planning to an expert is to possess it done right. The 5 main tips to looking great in tailored clothes; 1. Physically go in and obtain the tailor to take your measurements before making clothing alterations 2. Find a custom or seamstress that you're comfortable with, and create a professional friendship with-this can save you money

3. Tailor your clothes at a nice looking tailor store- because if they don't take pride in their store they most likely don't take pride within their work!!! 4. Always tailor your clothes- It's common knowledge that fitted clothes look more attractive, accentuate the right places by getting professionals to make alterations to your clothes. 5. Get in shape- that one will impact your life more than just looking good, but feeling good may benefit your life overall making you a happier person. Imagine the appearance on the ladies faces each time a guy with a good build and well fitted clothes walks through the door, and undoubtedly the jealousy one other guys can have of you. In the event that you actually want to look unbelievable hit that gym in order to tailor your clothes around your well sculpted body. Discover more info ร้านตัดสูท

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5 Top Suggestions to Locating a Great Tailor - Suits and Shirts Tailoring Guide

Everybody has their own preferences in regards to clothes, there's no secret there. But when you yourself have ever wondered why some individuals always seem to have clothes "that just fit" and hug their health?? I will tell at this point you there is a great chance that man or woman's secret is a tailor or seamstress. When companies manufacture their clothes they work with a general shirt pattern which obviously changes according to style or size, you'll need to keep in mind that these patterns are created to cater for a wide range of different body types, this in turn allows these companies a better opportunity to profit by selling a great level of their products and reducing the chances of experiencing dead stock (stock that is lying around in storage).

If you prefer your clothes to fit perfect you'll need to cover a professional and to allow them to tailor to your system specifications exactly you will have to either provide them along with your measurements or even better go in person. I recommend moving in person whilst the tailor can pin around the body for a larger fit, this also allows you to ensure you still have full mobility after alterations are created to your clothing. I tailor my clothes to tightly hug my body because I believe it is convenient for me, but each person is different and you should get your clothes tailored to your liking. You'll find quality tailors anywhere in the world. Maybe you're a little strapped for money but are off for a holiday in Thailand, PERFECT!!!!! You'll find quality tailors in Bangkok no problems you will find literally hundreds of them and for the buying price of a high quality customized Armani suit, you could have a holiday and six tailor made suits. Thailand is a superb place to find quality tailors so this can be an selection for you. OK so maybe you do not have the amount of money to go on a holiday and get a bunch of custom suits in Thailand, but you've a bunch of nice dress shirts you would like to fit well. As I said you will find thousands of quality tailors all around the world and you will find a target in New York City (NYC) or you'll find yourself a really posh well spoken English tailor in London all for very reasonable prices, this obviously is all circumstantial upon your location. The key is to appear around. Find a custom you want and get along with, because in the event that you manage to locate one which does incredible work you'll undoubtedly be seeing a lot of him/her in the future. My tailor actually gives me large discounts because I have been planning to him for quite some time and have created an in depth professional relationship with him, if I've any queries regarding tailoring he is the initial person I call, when he knows our tastes and the limitations to tailoring he may give me a family member notion of whether or not an item of clothing may be altered BEFORE I purchase it. This is only the case because I've formed a professional friendship with him which benefits both of us. The greatest tip I often will give you towards forming an identical set up is to continually search until you discover a tailor that you relate to, it's that connection which provides the tailor repeat business and you a lot of savings if you want your clothing alterations done;) Be particular about your tailor, don't settle for a low priced looking tailoring store, it doesn't matter when it IS CHEAP but it does matter if IT LOOKS CHEAP... why??? Because if they don't really take any pride in the manner their tailoring shop looks, then there's a great chance that they don't take any pride inside their work either. Which means that the standard they produce may possibly not be as much as par and the complete point of going to a specialist is to possess it done right. The 5 main ideas to looking great in tailored clothes; 1. Physically go in and obtain the tailor to take your measurements prior to making clothing alterations 2. Find a custom or seamstress that you're comfortable with, and produce a professional friendship with-this can save you money

3. Tailor your clothes at a attractive tailor store- because if they do not take pride in their store they most likely don't take pride inside their work!!! 4. Always tailor your clothes- It's common knowledge that fitted clothes look more appealing, accentuate the right places by getting professionals to create alterations to your clothes. 5. Be in shape- this 1 will impact your daily life more than looking good, but feeling good will benefit your daily life overall making you a happier person. Imagine the appearance on the ladies faces each time a guy with a good build and well fitted clothes walks through the door, and of course the jealousy another guys may have of you. If you genuinely wish to look unbelievable hit that gym in order to tailor your clothes around your well sculpted body. Discover more info ร้านตัดสูท

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5 Top Suggestions to Locating a Great Tailor - Suits and Shirts Tailoring Guide

Everybody has their own preferences as it pertains to clothes, there's no secret there. But when you have ever wondered why many people always seem to own clothes "that just fit" and hug their health?? I will tell you now there is an excellent chance that man or woman's secret is a tailor or seamstress. When companies manufacture their clothes they work with a general shirt pattern which obviously changes according to create or size, you need to keep in mind why these patterns are produced to cater for a wide variety of different body types, therefore allows these companies a better opportunity to profit by selling a good level of their products and reducing the chances of getting dead stock (stock that's lying around in storage).

If you prefer your clothes to fit just right you need to pay a specialist and for them to tailor to the body specifications exactly you should either provide them together with your measurements or better yet go in person. I suggest going in person while the tailor can pin around the body for a larger fit, and also this allows you to make sure that you still have full mobility after alterations are created to your clothing. I tailor my clothes to tightly hug my body because I think it is much more comfortable for me, but each individual differs and you ought to get your clothes tailored to your liking. You will find quality tailors anywhere in the world. Maybe you're only a little strapped for cash but are off for a holiday in Thailand, PERFECT!!!!! You'll find quality tailors in Bangkok no problems there are literally hundreds of them and for the buying price of a top quality customized Armani suit, you'll have a holiday and six custom made suits. Thailand is a great place to find quality tailors so this can be an selection for you. OK so maybe you do not have the cash to be on any occasion and get a bunch of custom suits in Thailand, but you have a lot of nice dress shirts you wish to fit well. As I said you will find tens of thousands of quality tailors all around the world and you'll find a target in New York City (NYC) or you can find yourself a very posh well spoken English tailor in London all for very reasonable prices, this obviously is all circumstantial upon your location. The secret is to appear around. Find a tailor you prefer and get along with, because in the event that you manage to get the one that does incredible work you'll without doubt be seeing a lot of him/her in the future. My tailor actually gives me large discounts because I have already been planning to him for quite some time and have created a detailed professional relationship with him, if I have any queries regarding tailoring he is the first person I call, because he knows my personal tastes and the limitations to tailoring he can provide me a family member concept of whether or not an item of clothing can be altered BEFORE I purchase it. This is only the case because I've formed a specialist friendship with him which benefits both of us. The biggest tip I often will offer you towards forming an identical put up is to continually search until you find a target that you relate to, it's that connection which will bring the tailor repeat business and you a lot of savings if you want your clothing alterations done;) Be particular about your tailor, don't accept a low priced looking tailoring store, it doesn't matter if it IS CHEAP but it does matter if IT LOOKS CHEAP... why??? Because if they do not take any pride in how their tailoring shop looks, then there's an excellent chance that they don't really take any pride within their work either. This means that the standard they produce might not be up to par and the complete point of going to an expert is to possess it done right. The 5 main tips to looking great in tailored clothes; 1. Physically go in and have the tailor to take your measurements prior to making clothing alterations 2. Find a custom or seamstress that you're confident with, and produce a professional friendship with-this can save you money

3. Tailor your clothes at a nice looking tailor store- because if they do not take pride within their store they probably don't take pride in their work!!! 4. Always tailor your clothes- It's common knowledge that fitted clothes look more attractive, accentuate the best places by getting professionals to make alterations to your clothes. 5. Enter shape- this 1 will impact your life more than just looking good, but feeling good may benefit your life overall making you a happier person. Imagine the design on the ladies faces each time a guy with a good build and well fitted clothes walks through the doorway, and of course the jealousy another guys can have of you. In the event that you genuinely wish to look unbelievable hit that gym in order to tailor your clothes around your well sculpted body. Discover more info ร้านตัดสูท