#stuff to keep your notes organised I guess

[ham1lton]

TEN THINGS F1 DRIVER Y/N L/N CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT — GQ.

— part of my maneater series.

Y/N (throwing her hat in the air with one hand and catching it in the other without looking): see? told you i could do it! not my only party trick.

Y/N: hi gq! i’m y/n l/n, formula one driver and i’m here to show you my ten essentials.

NUMBER ONE: IPAD

Y/N: first, has to be my ipad. this was my first big purchase and seeing my bank account being drained of that money almost caused a heart attack. but this bad boy helps me to organise my life, stops me from being bored on flights, keeps me in contact with my family and lets me write my notes. so yeah, thanks apple. also you guys should sponsor me.

NUMBER TWO: NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONES

Y/N: i never used to travel a lot. when i was younger, my family couldn’t afford it so flying around a lot was a big shock to my system. obviously as in f1, drivers are required to fly to different races and it means i had to get over my fear of flying. these help a lot with that. these plus a spotify playlist made by my angsty teenage self will make me forget about the fact i’m flying. these are my favourite ones, i have multiple pairs just in case.

NUMBER TWO AND A HALF: MUSIC.

Y/N: i guess this sort of goes off the second one? but music. i keep trying to bribe the engineers to build a blue tooth radio in the car but to no avail. spotify has been my biggest supporter all of these years. i know i’m sponsored by them now but i have been using my account for almost seven years now? so my algorithm is perfection. it truly has helped me so much. i listen to music on the way to races, on the way back from races, in my house, outside my house, cleaning, cooking and even when i’m in the shower. yes, i’m a shower singer. once i get in there, i’m beyoncé!

OFF SCREEN VOICE: what was the last song you listened to?

Y/N: one second, let me see. it was the twilight soundtrack in particular decode by paramore. told you i was an angsty teen!

NUMBER THREE: EMERGENCY BAG

Y/N: okay this sounds bad, it’s not as much an emergency bag as in like medical supplies but more so like extra toothbrush, toothpaste, menstrual products, lotion and other stuff like that. i always carry this with me anywhere in case my suitcase goes missing. it has helped me and my friends out so many times so it’s definitely an essential for me.

NUMBER FOUR: HER CAMERAS.

Y/N: i picked up photography relatively recently and this was the starter camera that the guy in the shop recommended. so this is that camera. for this one, i vlog, which you guys might have seen and this is the camera i use for those videos. i actually don’t record my videos, one of my friends or family or colleagues or whoever will film and i will be in front of the camera. it’s my favourite part when i ask the camera person to reveal themselves and they do their own little introduction. i obviously provide the camera for it. which is this beauty right here.

OFF SCREEN VOICE: who has been your favourite person to film you?

Y/N: i have had a lot of people film me. my most recent being rihanna for my recent holiday vlog! so many people to the point that i genuinely don’t think i could choose a favourite. i mean, i’ve had my sister do it a lot so i guess i can choose her. she knows my angles best!

NUMBER FIVE: LIPGLOSS

Y/N: when i won my first championship and i kissed the camera, the amount of calls from makeup companies my manager received was actually obscene. i think i got so many comments on social media asking what makeup i use and how it stays on throughout the race! to be honest, i don’t always wear makeup but in the original video, i was wearing this fenty gloss. it’s in the shade fu$$y. so, yeah, at least no one can call me a gatekeeper! i always keep it on me. i feel a little more ready to face the world with lipgloss. now, i have my own fenty collection! so check that out.

NUMBER SIX: HER LUCKY SHOES.

Y/N: okay i know i say i’m not necessarily a superstitious person but these shoes have been with me from f3 until now. every race i’ve worn these, i’ve won. so i like having them around. i think they bring luck. i can’t wear them any longer as they’ve worn through the soles now. really annoying but we power through.

NUMBER SEVEN: WINGSTOP BLACK CARD

Y/N: i was really craving wingstop one night. so me and my sister were in london? i think and i vlogged our hunt for wingstop and they reached out to me to give me a black card. i know, isn’t it gorgeous? i was so happy. too bad i have to cut down on what i eat thanks to my nutritionist, but my siblings and friends love this thing.

NUMBER EIGHT: SKINCARE ROUTINE

Y/N: okay, so i’m trying to get more consistent with my skincare but it’s not necessarily working the way i want it to. however, i still stick to the basics. sunscreen, cleanser and moisturiser. i really like keeping my skincare on check as there is this unsaid rule that women have to wear makeup in their jobs and if i keep my skin looking good then i can skirt that rule. i love this cream in particular, it’s moisturising but very light on the skin. best of both worlds.

NUMBER NINE: NECKLACE

Y/N: this was given to me as a gift from my family when i turned eighteen. it was a necklace that i’d had my eye on for a very, very long time. they saved up for so long to buy it for me and it’s become my signature piece. i wear it around my neck constantly. it’s weird having it off my neck to show you.

(she fastens it around her neck quickly)

Y/N: now i feel normal again.

NUMBER TEN: MY PADDOCK PASS

Y/N: i am so bad with keeping my paddock pass on me. for people who don’t know what this is, this allows me access to the garage and things like that. i usually keep it around my neck because if its in my pocket or my bag i’ll forget. my assistant sometimes carries mine. i’m not going to show you my picture because it’s awful. i had woke up really early after no sleep and one of the staff had made me take the picture. now i am forced to wear this monstrosity at work. i keep it hidden as much as i can. last time, lando saw it and laughed so hard he cried so yeah.

author’s note: this was hard as i wanted to keep it as vague as possible so that you can relate it to your own maneater! i’m still taking questions/asks/requests so please send some in!

[lutiaslayton]

Fellow writers. My dear fellow writers.

If, like me, you are of the plotter type; that your stories are complex, with many characters, and that you are trying your best to keep track of everything that is happening; but that no matter what you tried, there is simply no way to write your notes in a way that would quite fit your needs…

Well, I am here to give you a more visual method that would hopefully be of use to at least some of you?

I present to you: a timeline saying what each of your characters is doing, at any hour of any day, 24/7, that you can download and edit for your own use, on your own computer!

Take a look here at the live version!

There are two versions of the web page:

The “vanilla version” for simple use and writers who don’t need things to be too complicated

The “multiverse version” for writers who want to push this thing to its most absurd limits and handle multiple timelines at the same time, and keep them synchronised.

Anyway, the best part? Even though it does need you to look at a lot of HTML code, I included inside this exact same HTML file a complete comprehensive tutorial explaining step by step how to make your own, using this template as a base.

Anyway, all that to say: Once again, my need to keep things organised for the sake of my own fic has led me to create an entire tool out of nothing, completely for personal use, up until I realised that it actually could be helpful to other people 😆

[simplyjaeyun]

Cookies -K.GV

G/n reader, y/n used

Warnings: none, js fluff

You and gyuvin have been friends since you were kids. When you started high school you started feeling weird things for him, he had a massive glow up. Whenever he was around you, you would have butterflies flying around in your stomach. It hurt to be friends with him though, he would go around dating amazing people. How could he ever like you, those words swam around in your head for the longest time. You were just his childhood best friend, he probably just thought of you as a sibling or some person that has followed him around.

You and your friends were sitting around in the cafeteria trying to finish your homework before next lesson. You were struggling, your science teacher had already given you an extension because you blanked out when she was discussing home assignments. You were waiting for gyuvin because he’s in your class and he always takes notes. As soon as he sat down at your table you told him about your situation and asked for his notes, he kindly agreed. You quickly finished your homework. You and Gyuvin were talking back and forth before finishing your homework. ‘Oh I almost forgot’ he said. He opened his bag and pulled out a box of cookies. ‘I made these over the weekend, try one?’ He handed you a cookie. You took a bite out of it and scrunched up your face. ‘Is it good? What’s wrong with it?’ He asks. ‘It’s a bit salty..’ you reply. He looks shocked and his ears tint red signalling he was a tad embarrassed. You tell him you were joking and he lightly slaps you in the arm. ‘Ouch..’ you said laughing. He laughs along with you. You suggest to him you two should make cookies together. ‘Oooh yes, I can get my mum to help us.’ He says. ‘I was kind of hoping we it could just be us two?’ You reply. He looks a bit startled and you feel scared for a second until he smiles ‘yeah I guess we could do that,’ he laughs. You organise when you would do it and agreed to do it on Saturday at 11am.

Saturday

You knocked on Gyuvin’s door, he opened it with a smile which made you feel like you were melting from the inside-out. ‘Hi, y/n.’ You smiled back at him ‘Hi, Gyuv..’ He opened the door wider for you and you walked in. He led you to the kitchen where he had set out the ingredients. ‘I looked up a few recipes online, these were the ingredients that were used in most of them.’ He said, still smiling. ‘I didn’t choose a specific recipe so you can judge which one you would prefer to do,’ he continues. ‘I dont mind which one we do, as long as it tastes good at the end,’ you laugh. He laughs along with you. You both chose a recipe and double check your ingredients. ‘Wait.. where are the chocolate chips?’ You ask him. ‘I MUST’VE FORGOTTEN THEM,’ he says worriedly. ‘I guess we’ll have to quickly rush to the shop to get them..’ you reply. ‘Race you!’ He says. You remind him that you aren’t children but still end up trying to catch up anyway. By the time you two reach the shop, you’re both fully out of breath. You talk walk in and ask where the chocolate chips are. The shop owner points to the aisle where all the baking stuff is, you grab a packet and pay for them. You two race on the way back as well. Times like this make you question whether he’s playing stuff like this because he likes you or if it’s because he’s known you all his life. He doesn’t do this with anyone else he hangs out with. This is one of the many things you’ve learned about him over the years you’ve been friends. You both know a lot of things about each other. In theory a relationship could make sense, it all comes down to whether he likes you or not though. Which is one of the reasons you’ve asked him to bake cookies. You had planned to confess to him, to get it over with so you wouldn’t have to stress over it anymore. It could ruin your friendship, but you didn’t care anymore. You couldn’t keep it in. When you two go back you started to mix in the ingredients. You were mixing in the eggs when from the side of your eye you saw gyuvin pick up some flour. You knew he was planning something. ‘DONT YOU DARE!’ You shouted knowing his plan. He had a massive smirk on his face. You wouldn’t let him touch your face so he decided to clap his hands together causing the flour to go everywhere, this resulted in a short flour fight before you went back to the cookies. Once you mixed everything together you rolled everything up into a ball and put it back into a bowl. You put plastic wrap over the bowl and told gyuvin to preheat the oven. Once the oven was preheated you put the dough into cookie shapes on a baking tray. You put the cookies in the oven. Gyuvin asked if you wanted to watch a movie while the cookies baked. You both sat down on his couch and watched a movie he suggested. Halfway through the movie you thought it was time to make a move. You moved your hand towards his hoping to hold it. He was a bit confused at first but he held it and rubbed his thumb on the back of your hand. ‘You okay?’ He asks, turning his head towards you. ‘Uh, yeah.. I was just thinking.. there’s something I have to tell you..’ you say trembling. ‘What is it?’ He places his full attention on you. ‘So I.. there’s another reason I wanted to bake cookies with you..’ you say quietly. ‘Go on,’ he says, reassuringly. ‘Basically,’ you continue, ‘I wanted to say this to you.. so I have liked you for like.. a few years now.. I don’t want this to ruin our friendship but I had to say this. If you don’t like me back that’s fine I just-‘ You feel is lips on yours cutting what you’re about to say off. ‘I like you too,’ he says, ‘I have for a while now, I just didn’t know how to tell you. We’ve been friends for so long and I didn’t want to ruin that..’ He continues. ‘Yeah.. that’s why I didn’t want to tell you either..’ You reply. ‘So uh, do you want to like be my partner?’ He asks. ‘Definitely,’ you say smiling. You smell burning and it immediately sparks a memory in your head ‘OH WAIT THE COOKIES!!’

A/n: I haven’t written in a while, so excuse me if I’m a bit rusty. This is kinda cringe but I made it with c.ai so 🤷‍♀️

😭😭

[fairyvearths]

these two windows

FANDOM: one piece WORD COUNT: 5, 500+ on tumblr. 9, 300+ on ao3 PAIRING: monkey d. luffy x roronoa zoro x reader WARNINGS: cursing, i guess. lots of banter/teasing. forced close proximity. kissing towards the end, and leaning towards suggestive. if you’re going to read it on ao3, pls pls pls look at the tags on there first before continuing SUMMARY: you’re crushing on your two best friends, who are in a relationship with each other. you try not to be too obvious about. (you're very obvious about it.)

NOTE: @some-piece​​ hello bas!! i am your valentines for the @onepiece-blorboexchange​. i know this is very very late, but i hope this makes up for it 💖 to bas, please read it on ao3, there is so much more to the fic than what’s here on tumblr. to everyone else, if you’re 18+ and want to read some, uh,, unholy stuff, you can head on over as well. otherwise, enjoy this little fluff piece. also to mod lale, thank you for granting me the extension. i’m still late though, so orz

You don’t mind being saddled with looking after Luffy and Zoro—presenting no fight when Nami lists out the groups.

She gives you an apologetic grimace but you wave away her concerns; it’s easy to dismiss her worries when Luffy smiles at you, eyes closed, cheeks squishing as his lips stretch wide.

Your heart does a funny little flip flop, and you manage a grin back at him, trying to ignore the fluttering in your throat. You hold his gaze for another half second before you look away—cheeks dangerously warm. As you turn your head, you catch Zoro’s eye, flickering your attention to him when you see him watching you.

You try not to grimace, knowing how he gets when Sanji or Usopp—Hell, even some of the other captains you’ve met along the way—are a little too affectionate with Luffy for Zoro’s comfort. You back a step away from Luffy, refocusing on Nami as she organises the last of the crew.

She announces budgets and shopping lists before handing out pouches of Beli. When she gets to your team, she sighs softly. She spares a glance at the others, lips thinning into a straight line. She looks, for all intents and purposes, like she’s fighting a losing war in her mind. Nami passes the bag to you. “Don’t… let them buy things, okay?” she whispers.

With what you hope is a reassuring smile, you swipe the pouch. “You can trust me.”

She looks anything but reassured. “I don’t.”

You wink. “That’s the spirit!”

She blinks, glances at the others shouldering on their bags, preparing to depart. “This was a mistake,” she laments to herself. “Maybe I should reshuffle the groups.”

“No!”

Luffy’s yell carries over the ship.

You have a second to react, turning to him to see what’s going on before something firm collides into your body, warmth wounding tightly around your middle.

A breath escapes you and you’re tilting backwards, the unexpected weight shifting your centre of gravity.

A hand on your back steadies you, another on your arm to pull you back upright. You can feel the heat even through the shirt you’re wearing.

“Oi.” Zoro’s gruff voice comes from beside you, and it takes his intonation for you to realise that Luffy had been the one to crash onto you.

Luffy has his legs coiled around your waist, arm’s curled snake-like over and under yours.

Zoro admonishes him, letting go of your arm now that you’re standing upright again. He swats the back of his hand on Luffy’s arm. “Careful.”

“Keep the group!” Luffy implores Nami. “I like it like this.”

You pretend that that doesn’t fill you with a cloud of warmth. That it doesn’t feel like the sun is shining directly on you. You back up a step in an attempt to get away from the rising feelings in this conversation, but you belatedly realise you can’t; Luffy is on you, Zoro has a bracing hand against your back. You’re quite literally trapped here.

Nami throws a look around the small group before landing on you, something in her face that you can’t quite place. She grins, light of mischief dancing behind her eyes. “Okay,” she relents, in that tone you know means that there wasn’t that much of a fight to begin with. “I’ll keep the group.”

Luffy giggles, something light that bubbles out onto your shoulder and his limbs tighten around your body. The hand on your back gets heavier.

Uh oh.

Zoro’s getting angry.

He’s gonna take it out on you.

“Okay,” you say, keeping your voice purposefully light and devoid of the awkwardness you feel in this situation. “You’re getting heavy, Luffy.” You don’t give him a choice, shifting your weight to steady yourself before grabbing his thighs to pull him from you.

“I said, be careful.” Zoro digs his hand a little harsher, pushing you upright.

Luffy wriggles out of your grasp, climbing you like some sort of snake.

The change in weight unbalances you and you careen towards the deck, back first.

There’s yells, coming from you, Zoro and Luffy and you hit something firm, the air crushing out of you as you land.

“You fucking gremlin,” Zoro breathes, voice strained. It’s only because his chest is reverberating against your upper back do you realise that you’ve fallen on him.

Oh.

Oh, shit.

You try to get off him, but Luffy is resting his weight atop you. 

He’s laughing, like it really doesn’t concern him at all that he’s still clinging onto you, half fallen into your lap while you’re on top of his boyfriend.

“Okay.”

You crane your neck to look up at Nami, who’d been the one to speak.

She blinks down on the three of you, looking very much like she’s trying to hide a smile. “You guys…” She chuckles. “Do your thing, I’m gonna.” Not even bothering to finish her sentence, she turns, walking away to the group that she’s organised for herself.

“Hey.” Zoro places a gentle hand on your side to grab your attention and you whip your head to face him at the touch. “You okay?”

Your heart stutters in your chest; his hand is resting on the side of your ribcage. His gaze, always magnetising and heavy, feels even more so with his face literal inches from yours. Your mouth is drying, your throat sticks to itself.

Has he always been this pretty? Handsome, yes, that is a relatively objective fact about him. But pretty? It’s his eye that draws you in; a cool shade of grey that has, at times, looked silver under different lighting. He blinks down at you, lips parting, probably to speak again.

But you’re staring at his mouth, heart roaring deafeningly in your head so you don’t really hear what he has to say, if anything. You don’t remember moving, but your face is getting closer to his. Close enough that you can feel his breath on your cheek, and—

Nope.

You pull away, heat rising up from your chest, flushing across your neck. What the fuck?

(So caught up in your own thoughts, you miss how Zoro’s hand falls away, fingers curling into a loose fist by his knee. You miss how he shoots a quick glance at Luffy, both their faces pinching in disappointment. And, most importantly, you miss that you weren’t the one moving at all—Zoro had leant into your space.)

Okay.

You’re crushing on your two best friends, who are in a relationship with each other. Big whoop, that’s not news to you. You’re usually much more inconspicuous than this—fucking relax.

Your heart drops into your stomach when you realise that Luffy is staring at the two of you, expression unreadable.

“We should get going,” you throw out into the air. “Before the shops close.”

Zoro hums, a short noise that you can’t quite read.

“You didn’t answer his question,” Luffy says. He leans forward, a little pout on his lips. 

You back away, jerking lightly when you bump into Zoro’s shoulder. You find some weird middle ground, holding yourself awkwardly so you’re equally distant from them both. “What?”

“We fell,” Luffy reiterates. “Zoro asked if you were okay.”

“Um.” You take stock of yourself; yes, you’ve been jarred around slightly, but, all things considered, you’re surprisingly unharmed.  If you forget about the tightness in your chest, and your heart hammering away, the only thing of note is that Luffy is a pressing weight on you, but that can be easily fixed. “I’m fine.”

“You’re lying,” Luffy says, blunt.

“What?”

He blinks at you, expectant.

“He means, you don’t seem fine,” Zoro pipes up from behind.

Shit.

Fuck that Captain’s Intuition.

“Uh.” You swallow a wave of panic. “I wasn’t hurt in the fall,” you try instead.

Luffy stares at you for a second longer before nodding, satisfied. He climbs off you, arms already stretching to grab onto the ship’s bannister and slingshot him onto the island, smile splitting his cheeks, a yell of adventure on his lips

“I…” You sigh, defeated. “We were supposed to stick as a group.”

“We’ll catch up,” Zoro muses. He’s already stood up and he reaches down, offering you a hand. “C’mon.”

You take it, gingerly, trying not to think too much about his hand in yours. It’s normal, you tell yourself. People help each other off the floor all the time. Don’t think too much about it. “Yeah,” you say, because talking always made it easier to keep your mind off of things. “but Nami probably put me with you two to keep you both on a leash.”

Zoro smirks as he pulls you up. “You think you can tame me?” he asks, voice dangerously low. His grip on your hand tightens and your heart squeezes with it.

You think you forget how to breathe, frozen in a stupor.

When you don’t react, Zoro releases your fingers, turning around so you don’t see the grin fighting its way on his face. “Let’s go,” he says as he begins walking.

You blink after him, once.

Twice.

The fluttering in your chest settles onto your sternum. Wait, hang on. “You don’t know where you’re going!” That thought sobers you up enough to bound over to him. “Maybe it’s better if I lead.”

Zoro furrows his brows as he shoots you a glance out of his periphery. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just…” You’re trying to find a way to phrase your words without offending him. “You—Where do you think the market is?” you try instead.

He shrugs, shoulders hunching up to his neck. “Doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“Meaning?”

“We find Luffy,” he says. “He always gets us where we need to be.”

Your steps falter, watching Zoro as he continues walking across the deck like what he said wasn’t out of the norm for him.

Roronoa Zoro—a sap?

Honestly?

Kinda cute.

No sooner does the thought enter your mind do you dismiss it quickly. Stop that, stop it.

It’s supposed to be an uneventful supply run.

In-and-out. Quick. Efficient.

That was the plan. Or, at least, Nami’s plan.  

You should have known that none of those words would be in Luffy’s or Zoro’s vocabulary.

And Nami should’ve known it wouldn’t be in yours either. Honestly, what was she thinking, putting you with them? There’s no way you would’ve babysat them. At times, it feels like you enabled them, more so than anything, but—

You know what, actually?

No, no.

You aren’t taking the blame today. And you’re not blaming Luffy or Zoro either. None of this was any of your faults.

Because who, in their right minds, would have predicted that this small island would have a Marine Festival?

“What the fuck’s a Marine Festival?” Nami hisses, through the Baby Den Den Mushi.

“Exactly!” You force your voice into a whisper, glancing to your right, outside the edge of the wall.

No one is looking.

“A shit ton of Marines are marching through town,” you inform her, “and we’re, kinda, maybe stuck in an alley.” The way the houses are laid out means the gap between the buildings progressively grows smaller the further in you go. And at the sole entrance of the alley, are all the Marines on the island, apparently. Slowly walking like some parade.

Music, cheers, and confetti, included.

Nami sighs, exasperation lacing the breath of air. You can see the exhaustion lining her brows on the transponder snail. “At least—Please tell me you’re still with Luffy and Zoro, though?”

“Yeah.” Unfortunately.

In your initial panic after seeing the Marines, you’d pulled Zoro into the closest hiding place. You then grabbed Luffy and yanked him in with you.

Zoro had shuffled into the space, until he could barely wedge himself further, shoulders too wide to go any deeper. Which is good, you tell yourself, because the only way out is the only way in, and you’re standing right there.

And you’ve kept Luffy directly in front of you, giving you the opportunity to stop him before he runs out into the town—or worse; go deeper into the alley because his bodily rubber properties would allow him to.

God forbid either of them be left unchecked with Marines.

In your, more hopeful, infancy of ten minutes ago, you’d waited for the Marines to scatter. But they kept marching, and marching, and, so, you called Nami to tell her the news.

“I just—Why can’t we chaos our way out of here?” you lament; the prospect of being stuck in the cramped passage for any longer than you already have doesn’t sit well with you.

Luffy perks up, eyes illuminating with a gleam that you can see, even with the dim lighting. Zoro leans in closer, arm flush with yours.

You pretend not to notice and focus all your attention on the Den Den Mushi in your palm.

“Because we need to wait for the Log Pose to calibrate.” 

Your lips press into a thin line, unimpressed. “How long’s that gonna take?”

“Hours—”

You roll your eyes, displeasure roving through your features.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me—”

Oh, shit.

She can see your expressions, too. 

“Wait—no, no-no,” you clamour to your own defence. “I wasn’t rolling my eyes at you, it was at the situation.”

The snail is silent, looking very indifferent.

“Nami,” you whine, “I promise.”

“Uh-huh,” she finally says, sceptical. 

“Nami—”

“Just lay low until the Log Pose resets, okay?”

“Okay,” you say, and then to make up for the eye-roll, you add, “Love you.”

Without missing a beat, Nami responds, “That’s fifty Beli for loving me.”

You splutter. “Hello?”

She hums. “If you can’t afford to pay, you can’t afford to love me.”

“Yeah, alright.” You chuckle, grinning at her antics. “You ain’t worth it, anyways.”

Nami yells—the beginning of her tirade spilling through the Baby Den Den Mushi.

You jump, hand over the snail’s mouth to muffle it before you hang up on her. “What the Hell,” you breathe, turning your attention to the entrance of the alleyway.

The Marines keep marching.

“Scale of one to ten,” you say, lightly, “how badly do you think she’ll beat my ass when we get back?”

Luffy makes a sound like he’s thinking. “Four.”

“Just four?” Surely it’d be higher than that—it’s Nami.

“She’ll try on a seven,” Luffy elaborates, “but you’re strong, so four.”

You blink at him, a blush beginning to creep up your neck that you hope they don’t see. “You think I’m strong?”

Luffy beams, cheeks stretching. “Yep!”

Oh. You look away, breath stuttering in your chest. Your fingers twitch as you try to find something to do so you’re not forced to stare at him. Belatedly, you realise you’re still holding the communication device. You try to open your bag, but your left arm bumps into Zoro where he’s still leaning against you.

He’d been so quiet, presence strangely comfortable and safe, that you’d forgotten to register he was there.

“Uh.” You turn to face him, but he seems unfazed by your accidental touch. “Sorry,” you mumble.

He dismisses your apology with a grunt.

When he doesn’t offer anything else, you clear your throat. “Can you possibly move back a bit? I need to get to my bag.”

“Can’t,” Zoro says. “‘S too narrow.”

“Ah. Well—”

“Here.” He takes the snail from your hand, hand brushing against your own fingers and you try not to let your breathing change too much. He attempts to undo the clasp on your bag with one hand, but he struggles. “Luffy,” he finally says after giving up.

Without hesitance, Luffy leans over and fiddles with it. His knuckles scrape against the fabric of your shirt as he works.

Your heart flutters into your throat until all you hear is your own heartbeat thudding away in your ears. You hold your breath, afraid that if you did try to breathe, your lungs would stutter and you’d give yourself away.

Luffy holds the flap against your waist and Zoro places the Den Den Mushi inside.

You stare at the bag, watching their hands move so you don’t have to look at their faces and fluster yourself even more.

Once inside, Luffy releases the flap so it falls back into place and Zoro buckles up the clasp again. Neither of them move back to their original position, crowding into your space even though they have no reason to be.

Or, maybe, they’re just trying to get closer to each other.

That would make more sense. 

You should move out of their way.

You slide over to the right, closer towards the exit but your shoe trips over something.

Luffy yelps.

You flail for balance.

Luffy steadies himself on the wall next to you, and you fall on his outstretched arm instead of the floor, and Zoro grabs you both by the elbow.

“The Hell are you two doing?” he barks, tugging lightly to pull you upright before letting go. He sinks his back on the roughened bricks.

“Sorry—I’m sorry!” Judging by Luffy’s earlier exclamation, you realised you kicked his foot.

“What were you up to?” Luffy asks, head tilting in puzzlement. He doesn’t remove his arm from beside you and if you were to sidestep to get further away from his limb, you’d only be crowding into Zoro’s space.

“I was trying to get out of your way,” you answer honestly, “let you two be closer, or something.”

Luffy’s lip downturns. “You don’t want to be closer?”

You blink. Then, “Bit weird, is all.” You’re trying not to read too much into his words; take him at face value, don’t assume his intentions.

“What’s weird about you being closer?” Luffy leans forward—trying to prove his point, or out of interest, you’re not sure.

Regardless, you inch away, back of hitting the wall. Your shoulders brush against Zoro’s. You spare a glance at him, but he only watches, face impassive. You let out a small breath, once again cursing the small enclosement you’re trapped in. “I don’t—This is—” Your voice is getting smaller and smaller.

“Relax,” Zoro says.

“I am relaxed,” you fire back.

He makes a sceptical noise. 

With how close he is to you, it wouldn’t take that much effort to elbow him in the ribs, so you take advantage of that and do so, earning a grunt. “Fuck off.”

As you settle back against the wall, you realise; you’re calmer. Less nervous than you had been before.

Son of a bitch.

You’re barely able to hide the smile that rises to your lips; somehow, Zoro grew to know you. But he’s right—if you’re going to be stuck here for the next hour or so, you shouldn’t be so tense about it. “You guys don’t have claustrophobia, do you?” you inquire, suddenly realising that this wouldn’t be an ideal situation if they did. 

“What’s claustrophobia?” Luffy’s nose scrunches in confusion.

Zoro shuffles, like he’s shrugging. “Afraid of Santa Claus.”

A laugh startles out of you at the answer and you cover your mouth to muffle yourself.

“Oh,” Luffy says, sincere. “No.”

You shake your head. “That’s not what it means,” you manage to say in between giggles.

“What do you mean?” Zoro presses, the same time Luffy asks, “What’s so funny?”

“Wait.” Newfound chuckles linger in your throat and you turn your head to face Zoro. “Is that—Do you really think that’s what that means?”

Zoro blinks at you, lips pressing into a thin line. “Well—I don’t anymore.”

“No-no,” you beg, grabbing his arm. “I’m not making fun of you.”

“Ya-huh.” Zoro is doubtful, and you don’t blame him because you’re still laughing. “Can definitely feel you’re not.”

“Zoro—” 

“What does it mean, then?” Luffy implores, leaning into your space. 

You smile at him, quick huff of breath escaping your nostrils. “Afraid of small spaces.”

“Ah.” Luffy nods. “So, Zoro was stupid.”

“Shut up!” Zoro hisses, leaning across you to smack Luffy’s arm.

You can’t help but laugh at their antics, chest tightening as your breath sticks in your chest because you’re not taking in enough air. You try to be quiet about it, not wanting to alert the Marines.

“You didn’t even know what it meant,” Zoro snaps. 

“But I didn’t get it wrong!” Luffy fires back. “Hey.” He batters your arm to get your attention. “Zoro’s stupid, right?” 

“Oi!” 

You try to stifle your laughs, but to no avail. You shake your head, making a cutthroat motion with your hand to let them know you can’t be a part of this conversation. 

It takes another couple minutes for you to collect yourself, especially when Zoro and Luffy start to silently wrestle with each other, doing more harm to themselves when they crash their own elbows and knees into the walls instead of each other. 

“I have another question,” Luffy pipes when you’re taking a final, big breath. 

“Uh-huh?” you croak, wiping the tears from your eyes. 

“Who’s Santa Claus?” 

As it turns out, the Log Pose needed three hours before it recalibrated to the next island. When Nami’s call comes through, you can’t rush out of the alley quick enough. The restlessness of being trapped for so long resulted in absolute chaos as soon as the three of you were spotted by the Marines.

It’s not like you guys were trying to be found.

But…

It’s not like you were trying to be subtle about your presence, either.

Needless to say, the number of injured Marines who were there before you arrived, compared to the number after was… drastically different.

You’re stretching out in the sun, enjoying the warm rays you’re able to catch, now that you aren’t in a dark alley filled with cold bricks. After telling Sanji you hadn’t had breakfast, and then later weren’t able to buy anything during lunch ‘for the sake of the crew,’ he’d whipped up something quick and somewhat light, so you’d still have room for dinner in a couple hours. You’d finish the last bite ages ago, but the sun feels too nice to leave, so your empty plate sits on the table. 

A shadow falls over you and you open your eyes, brows raising as Zoro rattles a plate onto the table. He pushes the first plate to the side before placing another next to it.

Luffy comes bounding over with empty bowls and spoons.

“You guys hungry too?” you yawn.

Zoro huffs in amusement. “When isn’t he?”

You chuckle. Then, after noticing how they’re more relatively cleaned up than usual, you pry, “Is this something special?”

“A date,” Zoro says, blunt.

“Ah.” You know a dismissal when you hear one. You stand, taking your plate to clear up more space for them. “Alright, I’ll get out of your way.”

In the distance, you hear a squeal before it’s muffled and a small crash. You turn to look at the level above, where you’re sure you heard the noise, but you don’t see anyone or anything there. You narrow your eyes, turning back to Zoro and Luffy. “Uh, have fun,” you say, departing for the kitchen.

(Zoro and Luffy watch you leave, eyes tracking as the door closes behind you. Luffy pouts, gaze forlornly drifting to the three bowls stacked on each other. Zoro groans, tilting his head back to the sky.

“How can someone be so stupid?” he muses.

Usopp tears Nami’s hand from his mouth and they jump out from their hiding spots, vaulting over the railing to join their Captain and first mate on the lower deck.

“What was that?” Nami hisses.

“Hey, keep it down,” Zoro grouses.

“What did you guys say?” Usopp accuses.

“Nothing!” Luffy protests. “Zoro said it was a date, and then—” He gestures towards the kitchen where you’ve disappeared into.

Nami stares at the both of them, their brows furrowing as they sit in their misery; Zoro on the beach chair you’d just vacated, and Luffy on the ground. Patient as a saint, she pulls in a deep breath. “Did you say it was a three person date?”

Zoro sits up, as Luffy turns to look at him.

A beat.

Then.

“No,” they both answer.

Usopp growls something that sounds more like squeal. “Are you—?”

“Keep it down!” Zoro hisses, pulling the sniper to the ground before his voice can escalate any louder.

Usopp lands with a grunt, effectively silenced. “Why are you both so stupid?” he bemoans.

“It was Zoro!” Luffy defends himself.

“Oi!” Zoro kicks at Luffy’s leg.

“Lord have mercy,” Nami sighs.)

Sanji looks up, wide eyes blinking owlishly when he sees you. “Uh…” He pauses in cutting the onion. “Why are you here?”

You throw a thumb over your shoulder, back out to the deck. “Zoro and Luffy are having a date.”

“Uh-huh?” he responds slowly.

“They set up at my table—I mean, I don’t know why ‘cos there’s like, two other tables out there, but, y’know.” You shrug, trying to be nonchalant, but you’re too annoyed; they didn’t have to kick you out so rudely.

It hurts a little, you have to admit to yourself. Especially after hanging out with them in the alley. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but it wasn’t the worst, either. You had fun together, or so you thought.

“Wait, so what’d they say?” Sanji asks. “Exactly?”

You furrow your brows, heading to the sink to wash your plate. “That it was a date.”

“And that was it?”

“Yeah.” You rinse the soap off and place it on the dish rack.

“And they didn’t ask you anything.”

“Uh.” You wipe your hands on a towel, heading back to the counter. “No. What would they ask?”

Sanji looks about this close to bursting out in laughter.

“What?” you implore, thrown off by his expression.

He shakes his head, bowing his head to resume the prep work for dinner. “Nothing,” he sings, mirth underlying his tone. “What a bunch of priceless idiots.”

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” he repeats.

“Sanji—”

“You gonna stay to help?” He tries to redirect your attention, easily grabbing a knife from the wooden block set and placing it on the counter, handle to you.

You huff. “Not if you’re hiding stuff from me.”

“I’m not hiding—” At your pointed look, he shrugs. “Okay, maybe, yeah,” he relents. “But, trust me,” he says beseechingly, “this isn’t something you want to hear from me.”

“You know you're leaving me with more questions, right?”

He scrapes the minced onions into a mixing bowl. “I don’t think I should say anything.”

The door opens at the end of his sentence and you peek over your shoulder, fully swivelling around in your chair when you see that it’s Luffy and Zoro. They enter the kitchen, letting the door shut behind them.

It’s silent.

“What’s wrong?” you ask, trying to sound casual.

“We weren’t clear,” Luffy says.

“Uh.” You look between the two of them, trying to figure out what conversation just got dropped into your lap. “About what?”

“Not in here,” Sanji begrudges.

“Shut it, Cook,” Zoro snaps.

“You are running out of favours, mosshead.”

“You can shove your—”

“Zoro!” Luffy whacks his arm into Zoro’s stomach.

Zoro actually looks ashamed, clenching his teeth together.

Sanji sighs. “Fine.” He takes off his apron and drapes it over a chair as he passes by. “Don’t touch anything,” he warns.

Zoro and Luffy turn to watch him leave, waiting until the door swings shut before rounding back to you.

“I don’t understand what’s happening.” You decide to speak up first, laying out your level of awareness.

“The date was supposed to be with you,” Luffy says.

You blink. “What?”

“The date—outside; you’re supposed to be there too.”

“Why?”

“Because we want you there,” Zoro states.

“And you want to be there, too,” Luffy adds.

You purse your lips. “I don’t want to third wheel—plus!” you yell when they open their mouths to interrupt you. “Dates don’t really include friends.”

“Not as a friend.” Luffy steps forward, stands in front of the chair you’re sitting on.

“What?” you ask, voice weak.

Luffy holds onto the chair on both sides of you, caging you against the counter and him. “Not as a friend,” he repeats. “We want you there on the date—as a date.”

You forget how to breathe, chest flooding with a tightness that almost hurts with every heartbeat. It’s fast, your heart thud, thudding away in your ears.

They want to date you.

They want to date you, too.

You’re not alone in your feelings for them.

‘We want you there,’ Zoro had said. ‘And you want to be there, too,’ Luffy had claimed.

He knew.

He knew.

Luffy says something, mouth opening in silent syllables that you don’t hear above your own thoughts.

You should probably answer him, ask him to repeat. But you lean forward, clutching his vest in your fist to pull him in and meet you halfway in a kiss.

Luffy groans into your mouth, wrapping his arms around your waist as he kisses back, searing and desperate and filled with so much affection that your heart bubbles away under your tongue. He’s almost leaning you back onto the counter with how much he’s pushing himself onto you.

When you part, he pulls you back upright onto the seat, breathing heavily. He laughs, pecks your lips again.

You smile in return at his joy.

You kissed him. You kissed Luffy, and he kissed you back.

Luffy looks over to the door and you follow suit.

Zoro is still standing at the entrance, watching.

You swallow thickly, disappointment swirling in your gut because you don’t know what he’s feeling or thinking, but if it was something positive, he’d be more reactive, right? You pull your hands away from Luffy, clasping them in your lap. “You’re okay with this?” you ask him, voice quiet.

“I’m okay with it.” You can’t really pierce through his tone to know what he’s thinking.

“What about us?” you inquire. Zoro had become one of your best friends, and like Luffy, you’d developed a crush on him too. You’d hate for your new relationship with Luffy to erode your previous friendship with Zoro because he got jealous.

“What about us?”

If there was ever a time to define a relationship, it would be now, right? “Do we…” You clear your throat, shaking away the nerves.

Luffy slides a hand into yours, and, somehow, that gives you the courage you need.

“Do we get to kiss, too?” you question, hesitant.

Zoro tilts his head to the side. “Is that what you want?”

“Is that what you want?” you parrot back.

Zoro smirks. In seconds, he crosses the distance, hand cupping the side of your cheek.

Your heart flails wildly in your throat.

“Yes,” he whispers, and he brings your lips to his. He kisses you just as hungrily and passionately as Luffy did, thumb sliding across your jaw.

Your heart jumps into your throat and you gasp in a breath, only for him to dig deeper, tongue flicking against yours. You moan, a quiet noise that he swallows into his chest.

Warm lips attach to your neck and you almost choke, squeal of surprise sticking in your throat.

Zoro chuckles into your mouth, humming as he breaks away from you, kissing softly behind your jaw.

You’re panting softly, eyes rolling back as Luffy sucks on your skin. Your head feels cloudy, chest so full and light at the same time, heart beating so loudly you’re not sure how it hasn’t exploded out of your ribcage.

This is real.

This is happening.

“So, about that date,” you breathe, slotting your hand under Luffy’s jaw and lifting him off your neck.

“Fuck the date,” Zoro growls into your ear. He nips your earlobe.

You barely have time to react to that before someone slides their hand on your thigh, boldly going up higher and higher until their fingers rest just below your crotch. You groan, inhaling a quick breath.

Luffy grins at your reaction and you know it’s his hand. “Why don’t we get out of here?” he suggests. “And make you make more noises?”

Oh, shit. Eyes widening, you nod vigorously. “Yep, yeah.”

They pull away, Luffy sliding you off the chair before you all exit the kitchen together.

The cool air of the evening breeze washes over your hot skin. Usopp, Nami and Sanji are lounging around the now-deemed ‘date’ table and they look over when the door opens.

“Up there,” Zoro says, nodding his head to the crow’s nest.

Luffy pulls you along with him with such urgency that Usopp straightens his back.

“What’s going on?” he asks.

Luffy doesn’t respond, already climbing the ladder.

“Uh,” you start, stumbling after him.

“Don’t interrupt us,” Zoro suggests. “We wanna be left alone.”

“Oh,” Usopp says. Then, “No! I didn’t need to know that!”

“You asked, dummy.” Zoro waits for you to get higher on the ladder before he starts to ascend.

“Because I didn’t know!” Usopp wails.

Luffy has already reached the landing. Rather than wait for you to complete the climb, he stretches down and wraps an arm around you, pulling you off the ladder.

You yelp, flailing as he pulls you up. “Luffy!”

“Also,” Zoro continues, “you might not want to be near here; we’re probably gonna be loud.”

“Shut up!” Usopp screams, cheeks reddening.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Lore: Common Phrases and Words #2

Accuracy Disclaimer & The Other Stuff [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest]

Abeir-Toril Why it's called the "Forgotten" Realms History | Time & Festivals | Lexicon [1] [2]| Languages | Living in Faerûn [1] [?] | Notable Organisations | Magic | Baldurs Gate | Waterdeep | The Underdark | Geography and Human Cultures --- WIP

Some more random assorted Common vocabulary and phrases - including some LGBT+ terminology and yet more swearing.

An interesting note about insults in the Realms is that you're encouraged to be creative about them. Performers in particular, like playwrights and minstrels, keep a cycle of new and creative phrases coming and going among the population (Earth has social media for its memes, on Toril you can blame the bards).

'tis and 'twas are not uncommonly heard peppered into speech now and then, though the everyday variants we use are just as common.

Badauler - Nonsense, Hogwash

To be "Right darlburl" / "Proper darlburl" - Pissed off

"The thrust of it" - "the gist of it"

Galad! - Wow!

Anyhail - Anyway

Mayhap - Perhaps "Perhaps" is used only in appropriate social settings as fancy etiquette, and only by the upper class and those who wish to affect such mannerisms (bards and the upper middle-class).

Casking - Vandalism (Sword Coast dialect)

a Nightblood - A thief

"The blood of the night" - Thieving, a phrase used by professionals in the trade.

a Sharpjaw - Juvenile delinquent

a Thruster - An aggressively ambitious social climber (not necessarily derogatory)

Brightbird/s - Lover/s

a Rose [Waterdhavian dialect] - Somebody you're in love with, anyone from a crush to a soulmate a Rose [outside of Waterdeep] - A Submissive [BDSM].

a Fancyman/Fancylad/Fancylass - A partner whom the speaker disapproves of. (So, like, your boyfriend knocks on the door and your mother, who hates him, answers, she'll inform you that your "fancylad" is around again.

Power - Divine magic

a Tavernmaster - Barkeeper

a Clevershanks - Know-it-all (usually used for men) a Clevertongue - Know-it-all (usually used for women)

a Highborn - Noble (polite) a Highnose - Noble (rude), also means "has a stick-up-their-ass"

a Holy-nose - Priest; mildly rude, but more rough than offensive.

a Thruss - Lesbian a Liyan - Gay man (elvish loanword) a Praed - Gay man (gnomish loanword)

a Dathna - Twink

a Harnor - Butch

a Tasmar - Bisexual (masc.) a Shaeda - Bisexual (fem.) (elven loanword)

a "No-thorn" - Asexual

a One - An agender term, similar to using they/them.

Sildur - Trans I didn't see much extrapolation on this one, so I assume it's an adjective: a sildur woman, a sildur man, a sildur one or just "I'm sildur" when providing your gender, I guess.

a Brightcoin - Nouveau Riche. Somebody rising through the social ranks.

a Highmantle - Old Money, or somebody with the etiquette and bearing of one

a Turncoin, Coin lass, Coin lad - Sex worker. Something of a generic term, but also refers more specifically to those unaffiliated with brothels and festhalls.

a Laughing-lad/lass, Highcoin lass/lad - A more affluent sex-worker

a Brightspear, Highcoin Lady/Lord - Sex workers who play the part of the noble and draw clients from that crowd.

"Sark!" - The impolite way to say "gods fucking damn it!" (in contrast to haularake - the polite way to say it)

"Bind me and tar me" - An oath of astonishment, milder but similar in form to "well, fuck me." "Bind me" - short version

"Dark!" - "Damn it!"

"Straek" - "Go drown yourself, right now and painfully." No, really, that's the translation given.

"To stlarn up" - to screw up "Stlarning it up" - Screwing up "Stlarn" - a mild "damn" "Stlarning [thing]" - "Bloody [thing]"

"Tluin" - an emphatic "fuck off"

"Those of all the Nine Hells take you!” - the full version of "Hells"

"Happy Dancing Hobgoblins" - a curse used by the old fashioned and parents trying too hard not to swear in front of infants, rather like that old lady I once met on a train who unironically used "jiminy cricket." Hobgoblins are noted to be unimpressed by this particular phrase.

[planetsstarsandmoons]

Tells of the signs

Aries: they have wide foreheads with hair with a very close hairline so their foreheads look smaller when they aren’t! They are quick to react to anything that is or feels personally, and I mean that literally. Like you’ve just finished your sentence and they’re already throwing back what they think or they want ‘out there’. This goes for anything, small or big.

Taurus: we know about the square jaw, but why is nobody talking about their sleepy eyes!! Their peaceful but irritated, serene happy sleepy bulls eyes? Think Robert Pattinson, Craig Ferguson, Gigi Hadid, Lizzo...

Gemini: I know this is cliche, but it’s basically their ability to be two different people in different situations. If your answer is: oh yes, they absolutely have that without it being an (slightly) awkward part of their personality to realise this about, they’re a gemini. Think Paul Mccartney, Stevie Nicks, Prince, Donald Trump, Marilyn Monroe, Angelina Jolie, etc

Cancers: you’re looking in someone’s eyes, trying to guess their zodiac sign and suddenly their cheeks start being very noticeable, they notice you remarking something and their eyes start twinkling, you think they’re not definitely not a cancer, chances are 99% that they are a cancer.

Leo: front foot forward. It’s mostly pretty obvious to see whose sun is exalted and whose isn’t.

Virgo: the virgo men do NOT believe in astrology, will debate you on it, will condescend you, will condescend it, cannot leave you be, girls tend to stay quiet and be like ‘oh whatever, happy for you’, the guys won’t. I’ve seen seven people in my life openly condescend astrology, adamantly like not even turning even a little bit around, using faulty logic and everything, that way and all of them were virgo men. To the point where I started laughing out loud when I asked them their sign, to find out they were another virgo man. So if you encounter one of these, specifically those who debate you with earthy ‘logic’ instead of ‘idk i’m just not feeling the faith in it at all, because how can...’ etc, they are a virgo. The virgo women I know are so organised.. in a certain way. It’s that their head inside is so disorganised, chaotic and such a mess that they keep up so well with stuff on the outside, like markers, college notes, little posters on their wall. They’re definitely ‘that girl’ by nature and they’re natural hard workers.

Libra: they’re kind of insane. The girls are very passive, but have very charming egos and you see their conscious struggle to not be people pleasers. Kim Kardashian, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Bella Hadid, Dakota Johnson. The libra guys are... well most of them are insane. I’m dividing into gender, but it actually comes from ‘who has a lot of very well nurtured confidence?’ Those libras are ~batshit crazy~. Think Cardi B, John Lennon, Lindsey Buckingham, Doja Cat, Anthony Mackie, Jeff Goldblum and Simon Cowell. Noah Schnapp and Jimin belong to the girls’ side and Brie Larsson was bullied into being there too.

Scorpio: non scorpios, like all people, can divide people into types. You’ve got the cheery types, the organised types, the blunt types, the very sensitive types, and the intense types. Only scorpios don’t know that ‘intense type’ is a type at all. To them it’s just air. You can’t look at yourself, not even with a mirror, no matter how hard you try. So if you see someone who looks at you casually the way any other sign would attempt to m*rder someone with their eyes, it’s a scorpio. They also have slightly upturned eyes with sharper eyebrows.

Sagittarius: they all have that smile! The tenseless eyes squint and a laugh that goes like 😕 but then upwards of course! Their tell is most often their mercury in sagittarius (😂), which sag suns have most of the time. Sags are obsessed with going to things. ~Going~ outside, ~going~ out for a drink, ~going~ to the supermarket and ~going~ skiing or on vacation. That is really when they’re in their orange element and you can feel it. You definitely have to get to know a person before figuring out they’re a sagittarius, I think.

Capricorns: with white capricorns, their hair colour as a child is a big tell. Blonde children get darker hair as they grow older and mature. Capricorn children are able to go from blonde hair when they were small to dark brown almost black hair when they’re older. I’ve seen it with four (!!) capricorns myself. For the rest, look at their eyebrows. Capricorn’s eyebrows are such prominent features without somehow it being the first thing you notice about them. It’s a weird combination.

Aquarius: aquarii have these oval, round jaws that I can’t really explain, and when you try to imagine their face, their eyes ‘feel’ higher up in their face than most people have. With aquarii i often notice the lack of an actual ego in astrological and psychological terms (not in social terms, god no). They let everything else speak for themselves while setting themselves apart from the rest. Aquarius’ (self)-identified type of quirkiness is always some form of ‘more lowkey’ or ‘more distant from the rest in this or that way’.

Pisces: vampire teeth and sparkling deeper set eyes. Flat ears and \/ chins. People don’t often talk about how when pisces are enjoying themselves, it’s definitely, almost always noticable.

[fleshwerks]

Thoughts on new Dragon Age "teaser"? You have the best takes.

I'll be deadly honest, I didn't even realise it was out, that's how checked out I am, but I will always fall hook line and sinker for a delicious bait made of things I can chew on, so let's seeeeeee. I'll do first impressions for now. I'll warn you, I haven't done 'takes' in ages, I've seriously lost my edge and resemble someone yelling at a cloud more than someone with intelligent or at least entertaining takes. Proceed on your own volition. Note, I have not been keeping up with DA4 updates. At all. I am literally grasping at straws and screaming out of my arse.

I'll say this. I believe Mark Darrah who had retired from BioWare was brought back on to save this tattered ship that had failed to launch how many times now? If you were with DAI and Anthem especially, you know that when a vet of that calibre is being brought on board towards the end of production, you're fucked. The sheer scope of the regions visited in the trailer... I wouldn't blink an eye if it was a turn-based strategy game, but it is not.

I'm surprised how shit the game visually looks, but it's been my criticism with the thus far released art, and now, environment assets. And again, I'm coming off of Anthem, and Anthem was truly, truly gorgeous. Now someone might argue that every DA has had its distinctive visual style. Well I thought DA2, for what it was, sure did look inspired. I didn't enjoy the game or the characters, but I enjoyed looking at it. Dragon Age Inquisition kind of lost me aesthetically, but I see what they did there. It was more generic, certainly not attempting to be photorealistic, but I saw the idea and accepted it.

Now this though? What is this? The panning over what I presume is Treviso literally looks like a mobile game ad.

Ok, fine, I'll not go in on the visuals, I'm too fresh out of art college and I'm so anal-retentive that my o-ring's more pinched than a pinprick about this stuff. Moving on.

I believe the new PC is an Antivan Crow? Since when are they fighting for all of Antiva? Everyone??? Since when?! Zevran's canonically not returning, and even he was compassionately practical on his best days. The Crows are not good people. They buy kids to train for miserable jobs meeting miserable ends. Oh, so we had a whole character who gave the Crows a finger for being the shitshow they were, but now they're this resistance task force? What, why, because the 'Islamic Borg' invaded?

Then. I feel like I'm missing a fuckton of contest because I haven't read the preceding comics and stories, I have one comic book from the DAI-DA4 interim and it ended so disappointingly, I never bothered after that.

We're really retconning all the complex and complicated factions into freedom fighters, aren't we. I guess such is the state of our real world. Always a plucky band of people belonging to formerly shitty fucking organisations suddenly saving the day like heroes, possibly somewhere along the way ruminating for 2 seconds on whether they deserve to pat themselves on the back, landing on 'but we will change how we operate, and we will save the world, always!'

I'm into the Rivaini squid though. I've never been fond of Rivain, not just because parts of the fandom like to present this place that has barely been talked about in canon like some haven for... idk. I just didn't expect squids. And you people know I love marine invertebrates. You know what, fuck it, here's my 'best take': have squid, will travel!

But that port city ravaged recently by the dragons in ruins looks like it's been in ruins for the past 2000 years, only recently excavated. It's so clean. And here I go again with the aesthetics.

Anyway, Falon'din and/or dirthamen is fuckin' around in Rivain, aren't they. Because I believe that head shape, multi-hands etc were presented in many of the statues we saw in DAII, and given that Falon'din's proverbial crows, envy and nightmare were so prominently featured, and sexyman Solas' outright resentment for former master Dirthamen and the vain Falon'din, welll... risen gods. Dirthamen at the very least was associated with watery depths, but they're twins (or are they? Perhaps the facets of one person altogether)... Anyway, I'm more interested in what the fuck is happening in Weisshaupt. That part genuinely interests me. Circling back to Dirthamen, Razikale is the dragon of Mystery. Associated with Dirthamen, at least according to my theory, while Urthemiel was the Dragon of Beauty, and we keep getting indications that Falon'din was pretty, aggressive, and exceedingly vain. So Big Dirty's up next. Falon'din had the crows, right? Both defeated in DAI. He's out, more or less. And again, Solas most likely was Dirthamen's student before he decided that he himself didn't want to be but totally wanted to be revered. So my take is that Razikale, who got mentions in DAI is waking up as well.

The villain gods of this mess, the classic Dragon Age false gods we fight in every single game as end bosses, will be connected to Dirt. Eh. Same eagle, different liver.

Anyway I have a doubt that this kind of scope will end anywhere nice. The production's been fraught as fuck to the point where the panic button has been pressed many times. The art looks like a significant downgrade, the production has been filled with veterans just clocking the fuck out.

It doesn't sound interesting. I'm tired of saving the world as an Eastern European in late 2023. This kind of story does not speak to me at all anymore. Not after 2019, not after 2021. It looks dated and mediocre, the story is so old that if it goes where I think it will, it has no relevance or message for anybody but perhaps some American audiences (some). I'm just... I'm not.

The rah-rah I got from that clip leaves me ice cold. There is no rah-rah in such widespread misery. There are only curse words and the sound of grinding teeth, and everybody's a dick, and everybody's dick past is dredged up hard. No retcons.

I don't want it. It better receive insanely high marks for me to play it. And I loved this franchise, two of the PCs have gone on to be archetypal in my private works now.

The mystery is gone. The power creep... I don't want to hang out with gods. They should have never been brought into the story as characters you can extensively hang out with. Edit: basically the entire thing sounds about as exciting as a somewhat well-produced mobile game. Which is fun to fuck with while taking the metro, but...

[justanothereddiemunsonslut]

A Table In The Woods

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Masterlist)

Eddie Munson x reader

Summary: You and Eddie Munson, your new found friend and science assignment partner, get started on your project for Ms O’Donnell’s class. While both of you know that your strengths lie with academia, you never knew just how skilled Eddie was on guitar. (cute slow burn in progress)

Note: hey so this took me forever to get back to whoops. My paragraphs after the read more cuts keep disappearing and/or duplicating and I cannot get it to stop??? Hopefully all the paragraphs are there when you read it, if they’re doubled sorry, would rather them there twice then have bits missing :/

Part 3: Pretty Metal, Huh?

“Hello, anybody home?” You call out as you tap the door of Eddie Munson’s trailer a few times with your foot, your hands preoccupied with the crate of small plants you were carrying.

“Yeah! Just a sec!” You hear some clattering around from inside before Eddie flings the door open and bows with one arm, “welcome to my humble home.” You raise your eyebrows.

…

…

“Thank you, thrilled to be here,” you say with a touch of sarcasm but also a smile, then you nod back towards where you’d parked, “I have other stuff to get from my car, where do you want these?”

“I shall take those,” he takes the crate from you, looks around and decides that it’s nice enough to sit out on the porch while you get organised. He carries it over to the old brown couch sitting on the small porch while you grab your bag, containing your books, pencil case and camera, out from the passenger seat. By the time you walk back over and step up onto the porch Eddie is holding up one of the plants in it’s black plastic container, surveying it carefully in the daylight.

“It’s called pothos,” you offer casually.

He scrunches up his nose at the name, “sounds kinda science-y, I guess.”

You try to hide a smile before telling him, “it’s also known as devil’s ivy.”

When you had seen the name written on the sign at the store that morning you had instantly thought of Eddie and how he might enjoy that. He smirked.

“Devil’s ivy, hey? I like it.”

“Thought you would.”

He stopped eyeing the plant and looked at you instead, tilting his head to the side, “you thought I would?”

“Well yeah, you run a club called ‘hellfire’ so I thought if you were going to like any plant one with the name ‘devil’s ivy’ would be it,” you shrugged, as if anyone would’ve thought the same upon reading the name. Eddie placed a hand over his heart

“And so you picked it just for me?” he teased.

“No,” you said with a roll of your eyes, “it was the best one for what we’re doing. The lady said it grows fast and we should definitely see some obvious change over the next couple weeks, which is exactly what we need.”

Eddie nodded fake-seriously.

“But I did think of you when I saw it.” Shit. Why did you say that, now you sound weird, he’s going to think that you’re weird, that just slipped out-

“I am honoured,” Eddie smiled as he put the plant back amongst the others in the crate. “So what do we do?”

You spent the next half hour of your Saturday afternoon setting up your experiment. You’d decided that the plants would stay at Eddie’s trailer, as much as the control freak in you wanted to keep them it made sense. “Just leave them at my place,” he had said that day at the table when you came up with the idea, “to save you lugging them over all the time, if I’m gonna be playing guitar.” When you hesitated he went on to say, “I can look after the plants, okay? You look after the science presentation side and I can handle the music stuff, so you don’t have to come over every single day.” Eventually you’d agreed, when you could go over to Eddie’s and work on it together you would but when you couldn’t Eddie would cover it, so long as you took the reigns on actually putting together the assignment aspect.

You had six plants total, which you made labels for with paper ripped from your notebook as you sat on Eddie’s porch. When you had taped the labels on each plant you lined them up along the edge of the porch and stepped down after grabbing the Polaroid camera from your bag. You crouched down to try to get level with the row of plants to get a ‘before’ photo. Just as you took the shot Eddie leapt from where he was sitting on a rickety old chair to the left and landed on his side right behind the devil’s ivy line up, propping himself up with one elbow. He stuck out his tongue and threw up both hands with the index and pinky fingers sticking up.

Click.

You burst out laughing, almost falling over backwards, “that’s gonna look great on our project board, Munson.”

Eddie laughed and rolled onto his back. You took a second photo, just in case you lost one, and put both in the small pocket of your bag. Then it was time to begin.

“I don’t think you’re ready for this,” you weren’t sure if Eddie was talking to you or the small pothos plant you held in both hands as if it were a hot cup of tea but either way you thought he was probably right. He was carrying his guitar from what you guessed was his room to where you were standing just inside the trailer door, the amp already set up next to the couch. He seemed in his element, something he never had in a classroom.

He paused getting organised to continue, “now I’m just guessing from the-“ he gestured with his free hand in a circular motion to you “-of you, that you’re not overly familiar with metal.”

You scoffed, “from the what of me?”

Eddie shrugged and looked away from you, smiling shyly, “you know, just the general-“ he waves his hand at you again, “-of you.”

You raised your eyebrows at him, “like, the all of me? Seriously?”

After leaning his beloved guitar against the couch he held up both hands in defence, “sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, you just… don’t seem like a metal head,” now gesturing to himself.

“Don’t worry, I’m not offended,” you give a short laugh, “I’m also not a metal head so I guess you’re right.”

“Ah! See? I could tell,” Eddie grins, “from the all of you.”

“Okay then, pray tell, what does the all of me suggest I listen to?” you implored, moving to sit on the floor a few feet from the amp, wondering what your appearance told of you, with your baggy lilac tshirt tucked into your jeans.

Eddie lifted the guitar strap over his head and looked up at the ceiling in thought, “uhh let’s see, pop? No wait,” he closed his eyes and held up one finger as if to stop you interrupting, “dance-pop,” he opened his eyes wide and looked down at you.

You widened your eyes back at him, challenging him to go on. He continued, “maybe some new wave stuff, oh don’t tell me you like disco?” he screwed up his face.

“You’re the one telling the story! Do I like disco?” you questioned, amused.

Sitting down cross legged with his guitar across his lap, he slid closer in front of you, “hmm, nah. It’s a bit 70’s, isn’t it?” You laughed and Eddie smiled. “So, how right am I?”

“You’re not completely wrong, but at the same time you’re totally wrong,” he furrowed his brow at this. “Dance-pop is fun, I do like a bit of that, so you’re kind of right there. But I also love, like, rock music. And a bit of everything in between really, I like a lot of music,” you shrugged.

Eddie looked surprised, maybe even impressed, he nodded slowly as he pondered this new information, trying to piece together who you were.

“Anyway, we better get started,” you said as you placed the unassuming plant in front of the guitar amp.

You watch as Eddie strums and plucks away at his guitar for the next few minutes. He’s good at it. Hell, he’s really good at it. He plays softly, seemingly lost in the melodies. It’s mesmerising. Suddenly you wished you could play guitar, or any instrument for that matter. When it’s time for the so called ‘plant specimen #3 - metal guitar’ though, he starts to light up like a kid at Christmas. His eyes wild with excitement as he rambled about the new Metallica song he’d been practicing.

“It came out just before spring break and I spent so long learning it, my fingers actually bled! On several occasions! It’s sick. So metal, it’s insane.”

He went on about some of the intricacies and how he’d attempted to master it in just a few weeks.

There’s something fascinating about people when they talk about something they are truly passionate about, when they are engrossed in it and every word is dripping with enthusiasm. In this moment you think you could listen to Eddie talk for hours, seeing the joy written all over his face, the intensity of his eyes.

Then, he started playing.

Holy shit. Your jaw dropped. If you thought his playing was skilled before this was something else entirely. The noise filled the trailer, it reverberated in your chest. You watched intently, trying to keep up with the speed of Eddie’s fingers. It was true that you weren’t a big fan of metal music but the pure skill demonstrated before you was undeniably captivating, you couldn’t tear your eyes away.

The last striking chord echoed out. Eddie tossed his head back, ran his hands through his hair and let out a deep breath.

“Pretty metal, huh?” he grinned.

You finally managed to close your mouth that had been hanging open for the last 4 minutes.

“That… was amazing. How the hell did you learn that just over spring break?! That’s insane, Eddie!”

He waved a bashful hand at you, “psssh, stop,” but his grin widened.

“I’m serious! You are crazy talented!” you sat in disbelief, a bit stuck for words. “I don’t mean to sound surprised by the way! I knew you could play but whoa, you can play.”

“Thanks,” he tried to sound casual but you thought he was pretty proud of himself, which was nice to see.

By the end of the afternoon you had completed the first round of your experiment and left the six devil’s ivy plants on the porch outside of the trailer, up against the wall. You planned that tomorrow you would drop by after your shift at Melvald’s for day two.

At home, you sat your bag down on the floor of your room, smiling to yourself as you thought about your day. Your day with Eddie Munson, your new unlikely friend. Then, you remember. You open up the front zip of your bag, the small front compartment, and pull out two photos.

And there it is.

Eddie, in all his glory, bombing your scientific evidence shot.

This guy.

***

(part 4)

[absolutebl]

First, I love all your reviews and recommendations but now my list of watched shows is getting too long and I need to organise them. Can you please give me more information on how you set up your spreadsheet. I have name, country, year, number of episodes, run time, my rating, what else should I include? Please help me organise this BL list nightmare.

BL Tracking! 

OMG you're so cute. And I am SO SORRY. 

The spreadsheet of doom has columns for the following:

code - that’s a short search code for me personally so I can find screen caps stored on my hd, but also the one you see @heretherebedork and I (in particular) using as shorthand when we chat, e.g. UWMA & FUTS.

MDL - whether the show is on My Drama List or not (Y, N, na, and R) na = Vietnam & Cambodia, R = I reviewed it. (I also use MDL as a kind of back up and because I track all the other Asian dramas I watch there, although I don’t rate the het stuff) - you probubly don’t need this one if you don’t watch VBL or use MDL. I’m considering deleting this column since it’s redundant. 

year - generally the year the show is given on MDL (release year, rather than completed year), which conflicts with when I post and talk about shows - i.e. Bad Buddy I consider a 2022 show (when it ended), MDL lists it as 2021 (when it started) 

title - generally the one we talk about it here (as opposed to whatever MDL or Viki decides on)

subtitle (or alternate title) - the other one 

origin - who produced it, I pick the dominant language for those co-produced, so Korea got Peach of Time, Taiwan got Because of You, Thailand got Present Perfect (there are so few of these I keep track of them in a post rather then on the spreadsheet) 

rating - in my case, out of 10, i dislike an out of 5 rating system

apx hrs - so this is my best guess at the finished hour total FRESH content for each series, since (for me) length of treatment is important to track when answering wave data and exponential growth questions 

length - this is the column needed to calculate the previous one, so it’s: number of episodes X length of episode - average % of credits/recaps/stingers sponsors (usually around 22%)  

main trope - so like the major romance trope foundation of the story, enemies to lovers etc... 

sub trope - cohabitation, paranormal, etc... 

setting - home, office, r&b (restaurant & beverage), university, high school, historical 

pair tone - pining, crush, soft, hard, etc... 

main pair - grumpy/sunshine, sunshine/tsundere etc... AKA archetypes in play 

couple - the names of the two lead characters 

heat - rated from 0-3

kiss - graded from 1-10 

sub paring - side dishes 

sub pairing couple - names of the side dishes 

kiss - the side couple’s rating 

source - which platform is hosting the show

link - to that show at it’s current source (that I know of) 

MDL - a link to the show on My Drama List 

R - whether I personally have digital hard copy or not, and whether I want to 

trigger - any notes I have about traumatic elements 

pitch - my short paragraph summation, if I wrote one 

review link - a link to my review on tumblr 

more - anything I don’t have a column for 

Things I wish I included from the start!

DATE I FINISHED WATCHING IT - because I didn't track this I failed to track my own taste and journey through the genre (MDL tracks this for me, now, but I didn’t have an MDL account at the start) 

actor couple/ship name - like OffGun etc... only recently has become necessary since prior to this they had maxed out at 3 

language or caption/translation notes/links etc... - this would mostly be for the Thai stuff for me, but like there’s a great convo about the language used in DNA on one of my blog posts right now and I wish I had a place to store that info 

directors - specifically because of Vietnamese BL, otherwise MDL mostly tracks this so not necessarily except for sorting reasons 

native language title - as in, in the script of the country of origin, or in the case of Japan YET ANOTHER title (I could also use this column to track things like MAMEverse, or Japan’s linked movies) - again MDL has this info 

adaptation - if it was from a manga, manwha, or y-novel and who wrote it - MDL has this info tho 

OTS - not me, but you might want to consider this since it’s a popular topic, if you happen to be into the audio side of BL tracking the MV of the theme songs might be useful  

Production house/studio - used to be there were so few it didn’t matter what their records was, now it does 

My memory is SO SO bad ya’ll. Now the spreadsheet acts as a brain back up devise too. 

I also color code:

blue for ones I am going to try to get hold of hc,

red for ones in progress (currently airing),

grey for short works (anything that’s fh total is under 45min).

pink for ones I just can not find

So my spreadsheet was designed originally for tracking wave data, hence my prioritized intersted in calculating length and run times of fresh content, then I evolved it to be a review tracking system. But that wasn’t how it started. So it’s messier and less comprehensive than I’d like for its current use. (But honestly, that’s the nature of ALL long running data sets.) 

But at 400+ is now too large for me to modify from memory, and 80% of BL I never want to watch again, so it takes a lot to add a new column now. 

Tabs 

I also have a tab where I track my rating system. 

And a tab where I track my tumblr posts and reviews and such. I started doing that because I am terrible at tagging (and tumblr keeps shadow banning tags and I can never remember which ones are “safe”) so I just could never find anything in my own blog. I needed to do this because people would ask the same question here. 

Speaking of which, I’ve actually answered this question before. But I didn’t track it, to my shame. 

When I do this:

(source)

at the bottom of a post it means I am tracking that post for reuse/update. 

Other tabs that might have been useful

A tracking tab for announced/never made BLs with notes and sources of information. Or for the “coming next year” BLs. 

Currently I keep this info as part of my big end of year summation post as a draft here on this platform, but I’m petrified Tumblr will delete that or otherwise crash. It’s a MONSTER post while it’s in progress. 

[makoxxlip]

Why do you think the team behind MakorraWeek (messymosaic etc) are annoying bitches?

I remember joining a Makorra discord a few years ago & I got banned for posting in the wrong channel too much. Which made me just go "Wow, that's pretty silly but whatever. Guess they lost out on the most vocal Makorra shipper in their discord" 🤣

The problem I have with MakorraWeek being run by them specifically is that it really feels incredibly disappointing. Mainly due to the fact it's on their discord & doesn't really get much support.

MakorraWeek could be amazing just like ZutaraWeek even though it'll never be anywhere near as big.

Hope you're doing well & as a Day 1 Makorra shipper, I'm glad you didn't have to experience the mass destruction of an entire fanbase just because they didn't want two pretty girls with zero chemistry & barely a friendship to all of a sudden be "in love" to be together.

I wanna point out before I go that Makorrasami should've been the ending we got instead. BOTH GIRLS LOVE MAKO SINCE DAY 1 LIKE WTF AHH

*clears throat* anyway, Makorra Forever & I'll always love that their relationship is the most developed & beautiful in the show

Funny cuz I'm behind of the Makorra Week team also one of the admin of that gc and I'm actually the one who asked to kicked you out lmao So if you keep any petty hatred it should be towards me only then and no one else.

Guess the selective memory is hitting cuz the 'silly' reason in question was *checks notes* you sending multiple times child p🌽 art and other weird stuff unprovoked- and I remember it very well since I was the one who had to personally delete ALL the nasty things you were sending. Also had people telling me how uncomfortable you were made them feel to the point they were ghosting the gc.. so don't worry, you're definitely not a big loss so deflate that big ass head of yours ❤️

So yeah before misjudging a group of people you don't know from Adam and Eve- especially people who are actually reviving Makorra by working their asses off to create new contents, building a safe space and organise multiple events on their free time for this ship enjoyers, then get yourself checked cuz you look so dumb rn

[virgilisspidey]

Bello

As someone trying to build their own rottmnt au may I have some advice from one of the best?? Mines a separation au where only one turtle get left behind but they're adopted by Hueso and Piel instead of the usual crew

"one of the best"???!?!??

YA'LL SJDJDJDJD

Ya'll i'm not really one of the best djfnfjjf i'm still technically a baby writer since i only started posting my works (in ao3) in 2021

I dont really have good advice but here's what worked for me ig

Either play music or white noise while you write

It helps me focus and get into the zone. My brain needs constant stimulation. Having background noise/music just makes my brain go "WEEEEE"

If you have a scenario WRITE IT DOWN

I have a special tag in my notes app for my fics when i suddenly get ideas. A great example of scenarios and ideas i managed to use is Leo's conversation with Aoi in the abandoned train station they landed in on the chapter that has a very long ass name.

Even if you can't use it now, you can use it again some other time.

If you can; make a list of important plot points or a timeline

I dont usually write down the plot points for my fic because it can change depending on my mood but i have a mind map of how stuff flows in my head.

Since i'm not forgetful, that works for me, but if you tend to easily forget, make sure to write plot down.

It doesn't have to be long, you just need to put what would happen in each chapter or each arc and then form your story around that.

If your fic is like mine, make sure to make a timeline so you know where you are in the fic. Since your au is a separated one, perhaps make a timeline of when they got separated and when they found each other again.

It really keeps things very organised.

Write at your own pace!!

If you're stuck on a chapter, it's alright, you can write ar your own pace. You don't owe anyone a chapter.

Writing takes time, so rushing wouldn't make it any better.

What I do (or what i do for my original works) is I would stop when a chapter feels icky and wait for a few days until i have wnough motivation (or i'm bored) to read the chapter again. If it feels good enough to continue, i'll continue, and if it it's still icky, erase it and try again. The reason why i leave the chapters to "marinate" is to see all the mistakes and errors with fresh new eyes.

Writing is trial and error, so don't tire yourself out stressing over it.

(i am a hypocrite)

That's all i guess???

Best of luck for your future fic!! Hope these advice help dkfnfnf

[onegirlatelier]

1930s Qipao - a masterpost

Hey there!

I haven't posted on Tumblr (well, on this sideblog) in a long, long time. I have made plenty of things, just didn't have enough energy to write it all down in coherent sentences.

I think I'm going to make a new series though, since I don't have a blog elsewhere and I need a public space to organise my thoughts, on the making of a qipao in the 1930s style and tradition.

I have made two qipaos before (when I was still a baby to couture dressmaking) but whilst they were wearable, they were very messy with structural issues. Now that I'm a bit more experienced, I'm determined to a) make a proper toile/pattern, b) improve my pressing skills with a steam iron, and c) have nice and round fabric buttons and neat 'button legs'.

I won't have time to smooth out my notes, so I'm just going to reblog and add stuff in the thread or edit the post directly. I'm going to note down the methods I use as well as other methods I've learned about, since there are different ways to make things and each dressmaker develops their own techniques over time.

So for today I just want to share my choice of fabrics and notions.

Main fabric

'Pink sketchy retro garden rayon fabric' purchased at Guthrie & Ghani (a shop located in Birmingham, UK). The selvage reads 'AMSTERDAM by Anbo Textiles designed by Sholto Drumlanrig', so I guess that's the actual textile company and designer.

The website says the rayon is 'similar to viscose', but since rayon technically equals viscose, we don't actually know if the rayon used here is the old-fashioned stuff or a more eco-friendly version like Ecovero.

It feels very smooth with a good drape, a bit heavier than silk.

I got 2.5m which would be enough for a 120cm long qipao. A 1930s qipao has no shoulder seams so you cut the front and back in one piece, hence the length of fabric=2*(length of the garment). I only need 80cm in width for a short-sleeved qipao though. If you have a wide fabric width you can actually make two sleeveless/short-sleeved qipaos, or you can save the other half for something else!

Other fabric choices

The perfect choice would be silk. This is because silk drapes nicely and is very easy to stretch/shrink and be molded into 3D shapes. Of course you need a drapey silk, not too stiff and not too flowy.

Other natural fabrics, including cotton, linen, and wool, are all good. Cotton and linen will be harder to shape though.

Synthetic/semi-synthetic fabrics can be used too, just keep in mind that some are hard to shape, and some do not wash well. You want something that is very breathable, since it fits snugly around the neck, and drapey.

A medium, non-transparent fabric for a single-layered (or lined for colder weather) qipao. A transparent silk can be paired with a slip (which you would wear anyways if you follow the norm of the 30s).

If you plan to wash your finished garment you must choose a fabric that can be washed reasonably without fuss and pre-wash it.

Binding tape

Mine is a pre-made tape from Atelier Brunette. You can make your own with the fabric of your choice. It has to be on true bias (very important)!

I have eight metres in total, not sure how much I will end up using.

Stay tape

Super important. 99% of the resources I've read suggest fusible interfacing. A very thin but sturdy woven tape would work too. Sometimes I use strips of silk organza cut on straight grain (or leftover selvages), which is also what I plan to try for this project.

You need at least 4*(length of garment).

Sewing thread

I always use Fujix 100% cotton sewing thread. Also a thicker (maybe cheaper) thread for thread-marking and basting. If making surface decorations, silk threads would be nice. I don't feel the need to wax the Fujix threads but if using another brand/type I would certainly consider waxing.

Starch glue

Either buy some or make your own. Another soluble stabilizer would probably work too. This is used for the edges, especially at the neckline. If I didn't want to bother with a glue, I would leave the cutting until the last minute, baste with running stitches, and minimize the handling.

Interfacing

This is for button strips and the collar. I use a medium-soft cotton canvas. I know most people use a fusible interfacing, but I don't like it. Organza is not the most suitable, though if I needed a semi-transparent natural fabric for the style then it would be my best bet. You can also starch the fabric to stiffen it, but a starch glue washes out.

Also a lot of sharp pins and a trusted pair of scissors. Some people use spaghetti straps to make buttons, in which case you need a drawstring threader type of thing.

[essayofthoughts]

🌠🎈💝

For the ask game :D

✨What’s a fic you’ve posted you wish you could breathe life into again and have people talking about it? (or simply a fic you wish got more credit)

Uhhh. Keeping it to Critical Role only (because I think I've gone on at length about my opinions on my favourite of my other fics) I think probably even his worst for the main question and Ride A Rearing Dragon for the parenthesis.

even his worst is a close-focus Percy character study set basically right after the Feast and Crimson Diplomacy and is meant to act as in insight into his headspace then. It's one of the first fics I ever wrote for this fandom and I'm so so pleased with some of my phrasing and similes in it - but it's not Perc'ahlia so it tends to get ignored.

I really don't like the way fandom prioritises ship content over all other kinds of fic.

The other fic, Ride A Rearing Dragon is about Vanessa Cyndrial and a little about Osysa and with a mention of Murtin. Because of the phenomenal job Mercer does with all of the NPCs, they all get to feel as real as the player characters, and while everyone knows that for the more prominent faves like Gilmore and Allura, Victor and Kynan - it's true for all of them, Desmond, Samson... and those we see of the Slayer's Take. I wanted to explore that, and to wonder how exactly leadership of an Iounian monster-hunting organisation might be passed on.

🎈describe your style as a writer; is it fixed? does it change?

I would personally describe my style as a writer as veering between character study and what if with a tendency to get wordy and deep in the weeds and a persistent liking for stories of traumatised characters. There's a lot of like... surface? shifting of style? in how I write, because I default to third-person focalised storytelling, which means I'm telling it from damn near close to inside a character's head and so the narration will take on aspects of their personalities. As you especially can verify - when I'm not writing Percy, I can get much less wordy write in a much more relaxed, casual way, while when I'm writing Percy...

Boy is wordy.

But the thing is, I don't consider that to be a real style change - the underlying style using third-person focalised and digging into how they express themselves in that narration as characterisation is all still there. The difference is the character and how they express themselves.

If that makes sense. Maybe I'm just rambling.

💝what is a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

Basically all of my The Touch That Grounds fics? They're fluff! They're largely substanceless! But people seem to have really liked them and commented on them more than I'd thought. I did put in some character study stuff, to act as lead-in and lead-up to the prompted touches, and people seem to have been thrilled with them but I don't personally consider those notes very special - I've put much the same character study notes on my blog in metas and analysis and in my other, longer fics.

But I guess because those are meta posts on tumblr and the other fics are longer and angstier people find these things being noted in fluff fics revelatory? I dunno.

I just. I like my angst, and I like some genuine tragedy to things, and I like a good exploration of trauma. I don't really understand what people find so fulfilling in fluff so much. I know there's something, or else it wouldn't be so popular, and I like it fine, when I'm in a mood for something light like that, but... I generally prefer something denser that I can sink my teeth into. I don't get why people get so thrilled over fluff.

So when my fluff things do well it's always gonna baffle me a bit because to me, I've expressed and elaborated on these thoughts before, better in other fics and it surprises me to see the idea get suddenly latched onto when I sketch it out briefly in a tiny fluffy oneshot.

Maybe it just puts a better spotlight on it? I dunno.

[world-of-fire-and-flight]

Hello! Nice meeting you :D first I would like to applaud to the amazing organisation of your blog✨.

Second, this is the first time I'm seeing a writeblr/author blog combing a whump blog and requests and I'm stunned it's possible. How did you do it? Do you have any tips on that?

Third, my getting to know people routine is asking what your favourite tropes to write are :D

@writingonesdreams

Hi! I love your Tears of Iron posts! I probably have a whole slew of them in my tbr! I'm so invested in it and I love Zephyr (I mean all of them really but Zephyr might be my favorite😊)

Ahahaha, thank you! It probably wouldn't be as organized if I hadn't started doing all the housekeeping on like day one😅 Laying the foundation early has made it easy to keep it up lol

I....have no idea....it just kinda happened??? I started off filling prompts (and making sure things had proper warnings cause I gravitated toward hero x villain stuff which is probably where the whump came in) to help get my foot in the door because I'd been a lurker on writeblr for years. Around the same time, I was getting ready to announce that I was self-publishing and wanted to promote my book everywhere I could. Thanks to the lovely writing community here, I started to use my blog as both a way to introduce Fire & Flight and fill prompts because I enjoyed doing it. The whump just sorta happened and I wasn't ~officially~ taking requests until recently....but I never exactly said no if someone mentioned wanting a continuation in the notes😅 I just like connecting with people and writeblr's been so welcoming and chill that it was easy to just do it all I guess😂

As for tropes: I don't really set out to write tropes, but they certainly choose me😜 Some of my favorites are found family, friends to lovers, and slow burn! I'd love to write a worthy redemption arc one day but alas, I don't think I've written a character worthy enough to pull it off satisfactorially. Enemies (to friends) to lovers is another I'd love to try my hand at because the tension! The conflicted feelings! The struggle to overcome why they were enemies in the first place! It's seems like such a fun trope to write!

[wander-over-the-words]

1, 5, 6, 10, 13, 22, and 35 for the weird writing ask game!

Weird Questions for Writers (because writers are weird)

(under cut cause lots of numbers and I got a little rambly a couple of times lmao)

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

Times New Roman, size 12. Nothing else is acceptable to mine eyes lmao

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

Scratches chin

I don't think I do, no. I am a huge perfectionist when it comes to writing (especially if it deals with an actual canon and such), but I don't think I have any superstitions about it.

6. What is your darkest fear about writing?

Pretty much all the fears I have regarding writing are, in the moment, pretty severe, but in hindsight, are probably quite trivial. The sort of things writing blogs make posts about, like how "we should write for ourselves so who cares about notes" and whatnot. How a fic might not get attention even after the amount of time I've spent on it (though, to be fair, that's sometimes just Tumblr's fault for locking me out of tags huff puff).

The only real dark fears I've had about writing are intrusive thoughts about like. which fic will be my last. In that, which fic will be the last posted before something happens to me or some such. My greatest fear in life is dying before I get to do everything I want to do, and sharing the millions of stories in my head is part of that.

But like I said, those are just dumb intrusive thoughts that my brain likes to shove in my mind every so often. Keeps me on my toes, I guess.

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

I've certainly read things in the past that stuck with me for a long time! Been a while since I've read a fanfic that's done that, but I read a mystery/psychological sort of novel toward the beginning of the year that had a helluva twist, where I just kinda went "woah" and then immediately went to my mama like "YOU HAVE TO READ THIS" lmao

As for my own writing - ehhhh. Sort of. My own writing 'haunting' me is more like. I put too many expectations on myself for things. So I guess it's not 'haunting' so much as 'taunting', heh. The current one is Part 3 of Wherever Life Takes You and whether or not it'll be a satisfying sequel to a fic that I. did not expect to get as popular as it did. It's got bigger shoes to fill than I thought would be the case and so it's on my mind more than I'd like.

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

Eeehhh. Death, mostly (or rather, the aftermath of somebody's death). Hits too close to home. And obviously any sort of discrimination stuff, especially any I relate to. Makes me feel disgusting afterwards. I have to put myself in a specific mood to write about either of those things, and sometimes it just leads to me accidentally unlocking a depression episode cause my brain becomes too loud.

One that's kind of both easy and difficult is the topic of guilt. Like, it's hard because I relate a little too much to it (thanks to a high level of empathy and a guilt complex), but it means I can just fly through descriptions of it cause. I get it. I understand why a character's doing something out of guilt. I've been there.

One that's easy is - funnily enough - violence lmao. I don't get to write fight scenes often, but I tend to fly through them when I do.

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

Not as organised as I'd like lmao

I have a shit ton of notes on my phone of random bits of dialogue and facts to remember. If I'm in bed and can't be bothered to roll over and grab my phone, I write said thing on the back of my hand and just have to remember to write it down properly the next day lmao.

Recently, I did move the notes from my phone to my Google Docs, where everything else is (shoutout to the BioShock fic notes that came out at over two hundred pages! y'all were slowing my fuckin phone down). Different drafts of things get different documents (and are usually just named [fic name] and (whatever number of draft it is)), I have a 'graveyard' document dedicated to having bits I deleted that I might be able to use later or that I just liked a lot. Multi-chap fics tend to have a doc dedicated to just their plans. That kind of thing.

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

Favourite has got to be my little trick of removing (most) punctuation from scenes where the character(s) is panicking, in order to make the reader's 'reading voice' speed up and match the character's racing thoughts (think the most recent time I did it was Here Comes Frankenstein, with Delta in That Scene; in posted stuff, anyway). I know doing that would probably piss off most of my old English teachers, but hey. it does what I want it to do so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm usually a wee bit of a snob when it comes to grammar, but there are some rules that I just. don't care about. Like. I know there're specific rules on how to structure a sentence when somebody's speech is interrupted, like whether the - goes before or after the speech marks, and I'm sure I've done it wrong pretty much every time, but it's because I just. don't give a fuck nrnrng Like maybe I'll care when I actually publish something but like. y'all know they were interrupted, and that's all I need you to know.

My English teachers used to tell me I should never 'list' during descriptions in writing (e.g. don't have a paragraph dedicated to what a character looks like), but like. how the fuck are y'all supposed to know this shit otherwise? I'd much rather a writer just give me some list of what their character or setting looks like rather than pick up clues along the way, like my old teachers used to make me do (they would have me do shit like "instead of just saying she has blonde hair, just mention it when she eventually touches her hair" or some shit. or I'd have to implant a scene where a character happens to see their reflection just to give me an excuse to be like "LOOK HERE'S WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE. THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT IT SO THIS IS JUSTIFIED."). I'd rather have something to consult in case I forget rather than have to fine-tooth-comb the text to find out if this gal is blonde or not. fuckin wait for her to touch her damn hair just so I can know what colour it is. Obviously, yes, don't be too rambly with it, and show, don't tell their personality, but what they look like? Yes, please, just fuckin tell me. Let me have a picture in my mind rather than a bunch of puzzle pieces that I have put together over the span of reading this entire book.

Also, I’m aware some people don’t like it when writers actually write out accents, but fuck that (except if it makes the text legit hard to read). Y’all can pry especially Southern accents from my cold dead hands.

And hey, yeah, sometimes I structure stuff more on how it looks rather than writing rules, or how easily I think it reads. I'm in no way perfect ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[lovelyelbowleech]

wait. hair anon here again. that part is unrelated to the rest of this ask I just wanted to identify myself akdksk. anyways what i wanted to ask is, if you’re willing to share, what’s your outlining process like? thank you so much again and i hope you’re having a good day 🥺🫡💖

Haha, oy vey, my outlining process. 

It's quite chaotic I know certain events and things I want to happen that are spread over the three fics, I know the important things that need to happen, and roughly when and how. War games is divided into sections in my head and I have it planned out via my best guess of the ATLA  timeline, so its almost being planned week by week. But a lot of those points are kind of nebulous, and subject to adjustment.  I have Major Events stuck on my wall of sticky notes, but unless its within the section I am working on, I'm not always sure how I'm getting there. When I get close to a new section I plan all the chapters for that, and all the pov's - but it's not so ridged I can't change it. I currently have the next 10 chapters planned pretty well.  (currently we are in pre Ba Sing Se section - they do not have inventive names, guess what the next ones called)

The same chaotic but sometimes organised process goes with the characters. For example, I have the main points of Azala's arc firm in my mind. But the bits in between are more free flow - I'm not sure 100% how I'm going to get her to each of those points, I just let the story go where it wants, and see how it comes out (which is why i keep ending up with too many chapters and characters taking over POV's) 

When I write each chapter, it is a many layers process. First I write  out a plan on my page.  'He does this, she does that' and include any bits of dialogue that come to mind  as I am writing that out. Next I go over it again, but putting in lots more detail. I leave spelling mistakes, and don't really bother with punctuation. Then I go over it again, and this time add punctuation and correct the spelling and try to make it make sense. Then I edit,  and edit again another two times. I'm very dyslexic, and I have a tendency to correct to the wrong word by accident. It's time consuming and a pain! 

Then I send to my beta reader to make her suffer. 

I am one of those writes who's brain knows what it's doing before I do consciously. Stuff just slides into place, and it's the best feeling. Although it's a bit like someone else is steering the ship sometimes 

In my RL i hate dealing with more than one thing at once, and having to organise multiple things fries my brain - but in fic writing I am some sort of dungeon master moving my many many pieces around the board and cackling to myself. 

So yeah, TLDR my outlining process is half order and half complete chaos. There are sticky  notes, and  mixed amounts of planning. 

Sorry I wrote you an essay there 😂