#So it had a place where you could upload any file you wanted

[copperbadge]

What do you mean by digital cleaning?

It's something I've been working on more this year because I had a bit more travel than usual so couldn't do actual home cleaning, but I always take a couple of days in the Month Of Cleaning where I'm focused on my digital life. It's good to make your physical home a comfortable place for yourself, but it's also good to recognize that we have "digital" homes that need attention. And often this is at least less physically demanding, so it's good to keep it in your back pocket for days when you're mentally okay but physically too tired or sore to do more of that kind of work.

In the shortest possible terms, digital cleaning is just making sure that your phone, computer, socials, and other digital "presences" are organized in a way that you find helpful, and that you take a moment to either answer those messages you've been putting off or give yourself amnesty on doing so.

This tends to make a lot of people extremely anxious in a way ordinary physical space cleaning doesn't, so I'm going to put the rest of it behind a cut...

So when I say digital cleaning, I refer to stuff like going through my likes on Tumblr and clearing them out, going through my drafts and turning them into queued posts, answering my asks. I spend time in my email inboxes, either responding to messages or removing them. I am not an "inbox zero" kind of guy, but I like to keep the read-but-not-answered messages to a minimum, and towards the end of the year that usually means a clear-out and amnesty. I clean my Google Drive -- delete old files I uploaded for others, move documents I'm no longer using into an archive, move documents I want to work on into a central work folder. I go through my catch-all folder on my hard drive and organize it; I sort through the year's photos and organize those, partly to archive them and partly because I make a scrapbook from them each year. I don't usually have a ton of tabs open but often have more than I'd like, so I go through them all and either read, bookmark, or get rid of them.

I look in my phone's file tree to make sure I delete files I don't need (mostly menu downloads, Restaurants Stop Making Your Menus PDFs Challenge 2K24) and I sometimes go through each app on my phone, make sure I still use it, and make sure it's set how I want it. If this sounds like a nightmare, bear in mind that I very rarely put apps on my phone to start with -- I think my mother has more apps open at any given time than I have apps on my phone ever.

Everywhere I clean, I look for files named things like "notes" or "deal with" or "random" and move them all into one place so that whatever is in them, I can sort through it and make sure it goes somewhere permanent. Logins go in the login/password spreadsheet I keep, addresses go into my contacts, story notes go into a "fiction scraps" file, random thoughts either get moved into a journal file or put into drafts to become Tumblr posts, etc.

If this sounds like I might have some kind of compulsion disorder, I get that; when I explain my digital hygiene systems a lot of people look at me like I'm spouting a mad but harmless conspiracy theory. But it's something I used to have to do periodically even before I created National Clean Your Home Month, because otherwise I could never find anything, and everything was just...harder. As I once told a boss who admired my organizational skills, "It was this or endless chaos."

Putting addresses into my contacts list means I always know that the addresses I have for my friends are up to date. Putting logins into a spreadsheet means that five minutes spent now will not result in five weeks of procrastination later because I can't find the login and can't do anything else until I do that. Going through my email and archiving old conversations means not only can I find them easily when needed, I don't have to look at them the rest of the time. Sometimes I even go through my various wish lists and remove old/purchased items, or clear out all my "save for later" carts.

There's no doubt this is stressful, but like every part of NaClYoHo, it's broken down into smaller tasks; I don't have to look at my computer and organize everything on it all in one day. I can answer a few asks, then sort photos (something I find very soothing up until the moment I Don't), then read and delete some emails, then I'm done for the day. I can spread "answer or file all your work emails" out over a couple of days. I can maybe empty out my Likes but just turn the ones I actually want to reblog into drafts for now and deal with them later in the "drafts" phase of cleaning. And if I don't manage to empty out my inboxes, at least they're emptier than they were.

I'm struggling this morning with having put a bunch of physical cleaning on the to-do list but not feeling physically up for it, so I did what I felt capable of doing (measuring cabinets for new shelf liners mainly) and later today I might sit down and start building this year's photobook. Or not -- I have to code Radio Free Monday, sort out a prescription and possibly go pick it up, plus a very full day of work and a couple of afternoon appointments I can't shirk, so today may simply be a "get through the day" kind of day. That's okay too; some days the spirit is willing but the schedule is full.

#naclyoho #national clean your home month #digital cleaning

[ilovemybishies87]

The Vacation from Hell - Chapter Two

Chapter two is now uploaded to AO3! It is also below the cut, in case anyone prefers to read on tumblr.

This chapter is VERY loosely based on the response sketch from @damntheyare's original 'human hotel' fanart. Because some tropes will never die (nor do we want them to).

Despite the numerous changes since Alastor was alive, he could more or less navigate thanks to a few familiar landmarks, like the old Hermann-Grima place. Back in his day, it had been a boarding house for single women. He slowed as they passed its faded blue shutters and gated front door.  

“What is it?” asked Charlie. “You know this place?” 

He shook his head. “Not exactly. I know about it. This house has quite a history, spanning back to before I was even alive! The families who owned it are well known around here.” 

“Speaking of, where is here? I didn’t ask since you seem to know the way.” 

“New Orleans.” Alastor paused. “Home, I suppose.” 

Charlie’s eyes widened. “This is where you lived when you were human?” 

“Born and raised!”   

“And the hotel we’re staying?” 

He didn’t answer. He could only hope it still existed.  

Their suitcase wheels clacked on the brick sidewalk as they strode down Saint Louis Street and turned right. Many of the businesses were from after his time. He didn’t care for their newer architecture: some flashes of style here and there, but mostly it simply existed. Functional without any flavor.  

They crossed over two more streets before reaching their destination.  

Alastor allowed himself to drink in the sight. The name Hotel Monteleone was embellished in bold cursive on all three sides of the sign above the main portico. Festoons and cartouches, worn with age, adorned the hotel’s facade. Flower-filled planters lined a set of windows, and sky-blue flags waved on poles attached to metal guards.  

Charlie’s jaw dropped, and her bag nearly so. “This is . . . wow.” She laughed. “Good choice, Al!” 

“Thank you, my dear!” he said, and found his mood marginally improved. 

A solitary footman stood before a pair of golden doors. His attire was more suited to the weather—a short sleeve button down—but the black hat couldn’t have been comfortable. As they approached, he swung the door closest to him open.  

Cold air wafted out from the lobby.  

“Maybe we should have someone greet our guests at the entrance, too!” she whispered, nodding her head in thanks as they entered. “Nothing says hospitable more than a friendly face greeting you when you arrive!” 

“Oh? And who would you suggest for our doorman?”  

“Angel Dust?” 

“Not the worst suggestion.” He thought she might suggest Vaggie, but Charlie seemed to realize her dour expression would deter sinners seeking redemption. “Though I can’t say the types of guests he’d attract are what you’re hoping for!” 

“That’s the point, Alastor! Everyone is welcome,” she insisted. “The problem is whether Angel would agree to it. He already works for Valentino. But maybe this will be a step in the right direction!” 

The lobby was even more impressive than the hotel’s front. Their suitcases glided over parquet marble floors. Framed paintings of the founder, along with other men Alastor couldn’t place, decorated the walls. Above them, gold inlayed panels adorned the bases of crystal chandeliers. The lighting filled the entrance with a soft glow, making the place feel otherworldly.  

To their left, a rose centerpiece stood in the middle, bench-like seating surrounding the arrangement. A set of stairs, most likely heading to the establishment's rooms, lay before it. Another smaller set of steps led to the entrance of a restaurant. Alastor filed that away for later. Once they were settled in, food would no doubt be a priority. They passed more seating in the form of sofas and upholstered armchairs, along with a grandfather clock ticking away the seconds.  

Charlie lingered behind as he approached the counter. 

The receptionist was a completely average woman. Not too tall or short, heavy or thin. Completely unremarkable. Her only standout feature was the short reddish locks framing her face. Her smile screamed ‘customer service,’ but she didn’t appear to be in a mood either. 

“Can I help you?”  

Alastor read the tag pinned to her blazer. “Why, yes, I believe you can, Marie!” he said with a flourish. “My companion and I are needing a room for the duration of our stay.” 

“Of course, sir.” Marie began typing and glanced between him and a screen that suspiciously resembled Vox’s head. “Do you already have a reservation?” 

Fuck.  

Yes, he did. Decades ago, when they were supposed to arrive. Alastor was left with quite the conundrum. Did he take a chance on the hotel having an open room? Or did he use his magic to . . . turn the odds in their favor? The latter was the obvious choice, but he had expended more energy than planned to transport the group and their belongings. 

Alastor lightly tapped the top of the machine and infused it with his magic. A green glow came forth from the monitor along with thread-like tendrils. They reached out toward the receptionist and infused her pupils with the same green glow.  

“Yes, indeed!” he gritted out. “It should be for Alastor Malveaux and Charlotte Magne.” 

Marie blinked; her eyes returned to normal. “Thank you, sir. One moment while I pull up that information.” 

“Was that your last name?” whispered Charlie, joining him at his side. 

Alastor shrugged. “Who knows?” he replied, his voice low. “Whatever it was, it’s lost to the wind. The Radio Demon is what I’m known as now, and I have no complaints.” 

“Okay, but what about my name? Charlotte Magne. Really? What’s wrong with Charlie Morningstar?” 

“Your last name might . . . raise a few eyebrows,” he said, smirking, “and Charlie Magne is too obvious.” 

“How so?” 

Marie interrupted before he could explain. “Okay, so I’ve found your reservation.” Her face twitched. “But I’m afraid the room you requested was double booked. Another couple has already checked in.” 

“I see.” Charlie turned to him. “I guess we’ll have to cut our trip short?” 

"No, no, Miss Magne!” said Marie. “This was entirely our fault! We do have another room available, though. Fortunately for you, it’s an upgrade!” She started furiously typing away. “How long did you and Mister Malveaux plan on staying again?” 

Alastor struggled to keep his grin. “Six days.” 

“And what time were you planning on returning home? Check out is before noon.” 

So many questions. “We can be out before then.” 

“Perfect! So, that will be five nights total—” 

“What a relief!” Charlie scooped Husk off her shoulder and held him in her arms. He had somehow managed to remain affixed the entire trip to the hotel.  

Alastor wholeheartedly agreed. “We’ll have to decide who gets which bed once we are in the room.” 

“Oh, you wanted two beds?” asked Marie, the clacking on her keyboard slowing.  

He blinked. “I beg your pardon?”  

“I’m sorry if I wasn’t clearer.” She held up her index finger. “The room only has one. If it’s any consolation, it’s a King.”  

He would not murder the woman for doing her job, even if she was getting on the very last of his nerves. Alastor forced the violent urge down and laughed. “It would be quite improper for an unmarried man and woman to share—”  

“We’ll make do,” Charlie answered, much to his shock. She looked up at him. “Is that okay?” 

“As you said,” he stated with a deep breath, “we’ll make do.” 

“All right! That’s five nights total with two pets,” Marie said, eyeing Niffty and Husk in their arms. “They receive their own little welcome package for free. Trust me, everyone loves it! And did you want any add-ons or upgrades for your stay? We offer overnight valet parking, along with a wide selection of wines and hard liquors—” 

“That won’t be necessary.” 

“Maybe some macrons for you and Miss Magne—” 

Charlie watched their exchange with rapt attention. No doubt she was mentally taking notes on what could be added to their hotel. That was the purpose of this visit. And while he appreciated her passion in theory—the more invested, the more satisfying it would be to see her dreams torn to shreds—the only one suffering at the moment was him. 

“Just the total,” Alastor ground out. “Please.” 

“That’ll be $2,204.60.” 

Alastor turned to Charlie and handed her Niffty, who let out a small ‘Yip!’ of dismay. Charlie gasped. She barely managed to catch the other demon—now dog—and juggle both her and Husk in her arms. 

Alastor unzipped the bag sitting on top of Niffty’s luggage and made a show of rummaging around. As he suspected, Husk had packed nothing but alcohol. He was grateful for once. A bottle of whiskey was calling his name. Hopefully the staff didn’t check the contents before they settled in. With his last bit of magic—at least until he could get some food and rest and alcohol—he conjured a stack of bills and zipped the sack closed. 

He pulled out the cash and began counting.   

Marie’s almond eyes widened. “Wow, don’t see that too often!” She stared at him grimly. “You’ll want to be careful. You’ll be a target for sure.” 

Alastor chuckled as he placed the last bill down. The remainder was shoved into his pocket. “I’m not worried.” He took Niffty from Charlie, much to her relief, and held the small dog under his other arm.  

Marie picked up the bills and double checked the amount. “Suit yourself. We don’t keep change here, but—” 

“Don’t worry about the extra. Consider it a tip for your hard work! Otherwise, we’d be looking for another hotel or returning home.” 

“Thank you, Mister Malveaux!” This time her smile was genuine. “If you don’t mind me asking, where is home for you anyway?” 

“I'm technically from around these parts, but it's been years since I’ve been back. Things have changed quite a bit.” 

Marie nodded. “You’ll find yourself at home in no time. Change doesn’t happen that fast here.” She turned to Charlie. “What about you?” 

“Well . . . ,” said Charlie nervously, “where I’m from is pretty big. And dry. And hot! Not to mention very . . . intense! It’s nothing like here.” 

Marie raised a brow. “Huh?” 

“California!” said Alastor, and he felt Charlie relax.  

“It’s where we met,” Charlie added, smiling at him.  

“Oh, so you must be an actor,” said Marie to Alastor. “You sure are dedicated to the craft, not breaking character! It explains the accent. The glasses and cash too. Those Hollywood eccentrics sure have rubbed off on you.” 

Alastor quirked his head. “Pardon?” 

“I’ve never seen you in anything before, but I'm not much for historical pieces.” She reached for the safety deposit box below the counter and locked the cash away. “But I’m trying to branch out. I’ll watch for you.” 

He and Charlie shared a look. A smirk graced her lips. 

“Not a word, Miss Magne,” he said under his breath. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Mister Malveaux.” 

“Your room will be ready in a few minutes. Our bellhop will take your luggage for you.” A stout man with curly black hair approached. He wore the same outfit as the doorman, though his dark pants still held the crisp line from when they were pressed earlier that day. “Olivier, could you take their things to room 606?” 

He tipped his hat in her direction, then piled their bags onto the luggage cart. “I’m on it!” 

Alastor eyed the sofas in the lounge, but before he could move, he heard the shuffling of papers from behind the counter. 

“So,” said Marie, “what do you two plan on doing while you’re here?” 

No. 

Charlie bit her lip. “I’m not sure honestly. I was only interested in the hotel,” she admitted. “Alastor did all the planning.” 

Absolutely not.  

“I see.” Marie nodded. “Any sites you wanted to visit with Miss Magne?” 

He was not having any small talk. 

“I hadn’t given it much thought,” he said, his tone clipped. 

Marie’s expression brightened. “In that case, would you mind if I made some suggestions?” 

“Not at all!” exclaimed Charlie. 

“The Phantom of the Opera is in town,” Marie said, handing over several brochures. “Not sure if you’ve seen it yet. Broadway is probably better, but it hasn’t been to New Orleans in about a decade, so we’re all excited.” 

Charlie turned to Alastor and placed Husk on his shoulder before he could say a word. She took the pamphlets from the receptionist and flipped through one.  

“Is this any good?”  

Marie leaned over to see what Charlie was showing her. “The Voodoo, Witchcraft and Vampires tour? If you’re into supernatural stuff, sure. There's no shortage of that around here, even at this very hotel.” 

"How so?” Charlie asked.  

“There’ve been countless unexplained happenings over the years. Doors that open on their own, elevators that go to the wrong floor, even shadows of kids playing in the halls! Eyewitness accounts from different times, guests, and staff. Hard to write it off as coincidence!” 

What drivel. Charlie seemed to think so too, judging by her incredulous expression. If anyone knew what happened to a soul after they passed, it would be the Princess of Hell. They were either in her domain or they weren’t. It was as simple as that. 

“What about this, Alastor? They have jazz bands and even a jazz museum!” 

“I wouldn’t mind hearing a live session again,” he said. “It’s been ages! But I also wouldn’t mind some place . . . quieter.”  

“Then you have to go to Oak Valley Plantation,” said Marie. “It’s about an hour away from here, but if you want to get away from it all, that’s your best bet! It’s like stepping back in time.” 

Alastor considered her briefly. “Maybe before we leave, to wind down.” 

“Excellent! I can help get you tickets for any or all of those excursions. Give me another ten or fifteen minutes to calculate—” 

“We’ll do them all.” He glanced at Charlie, who couldn’t have looked more thrilled than if every sinner in Hell had been redeemed in one fell swoop. Alastor pulled all but a couple of bills from his pocket and placed them in her hand. “I trust you with the schedule, my dear.”  

Charlie grasped the cash tightly. “Thank you, Al! I won’t let you down.” 

“Yes, yes.” He sighed. “I’m taking a breather until our room is ready.” 

“Olivier should be nearly finished if you would like to head up, Mister Malveaux. Here’s your key,” Marie said, handing him a piece of plastic. “I’ll give Miss Magne the other so she can join you when we’re done.” 

Alastor held the rectangular thing awkwardly between his fingers. What odd material to use for a key.  

The elevator was several paces behind them on the other side of the stairs. Leaving the two women to hash out their plans—a decision he hoped he would not come to regret—he stepped into an empty lift and pushed the backlit button with the number 6. 

Husk pawed at his head, nearly knocking his glasses off. 

Alastor turned, his glare ice cold. “You’re trying your luck, Husker! I’m not in the mood to be messed with. Unless you care to find out if cats really do have nine lives, I would suggest you mind yourself for the rest of the trip.”  

Silence filled the compartment for the ride up to the sixth floor. The elevator’s ding! notified them of their arrival, and the doors slid open. A gold cart was parked in the hall several doors down. He could see the last of their luggage—pink, in all its shameless glory—being picked up and transported inside. 

“Thank you for your hard work, my good sir!” said Alastor, steadfast in keeping the last of his remaining patience in check. He handed the man a crisp . . . twenty? Fifty? He didn’t look. “Much appreciated!” 

Olivier’s eyes widened. Had he slipped him a hundred by mistake? “You’re too kind, sir! Thank you. Let me know if you need anything!” He pushed the cart back toward the lifts. 

The room’s door remained open long enough to slip in. Alastor allowed it to close behind them as he placed Niffty on the ground beside him. Husk jumped from his shoulder and landed on the carpeted floor. They surveyed their accommodations. 

White. It was very white. Alastor crossed over to the king-size bed and upholstered headboard, a wallpapered inset behind it. They were white. So was the bedding. As was the much smaller, more rustic chandelier hanging up above. The nightstands, the single-seated sofa, and the vanity and set of chairs at the foot of the bed.  

The carpeting. The floors. The ceiling. 

Everything was white. Even the bathroom gave him no reprieve. 

Was this what Heaven was like? 

Alastor felt like he was going mad. The only hints of color came from the trio and the baggage they had dragged along for the trip. Charlie’s and Niffty’s luggage were a sight for sore eyes against the colorless landscape that was their room.  

Husk’s was too, but for very different reasons. Alastor picked up the leather bag, placed it on the vanity, and pulled out a seat. A small glass was set upside down beneath a mirror. He grabbed it and quickly zipped the bag open. The bottle of whiskey he eyed earlier clinked against a bottle of gin, and without hesitation, he twisted the cap off with his thumb and poured out a healthy amount.  

Husk jumped up and hissed.   

Alastor tipped his glass and downed the drink. “Even when you can’t pour, you make an excellent bartender, Husker old pal!”  

An almost imperceptible beep alerted him to Charlie’s arrival. “That receptionist really knows her stuff!” She dropped a handful of brochures on the vanity, along with a much thinner stack of cash, and pulled out the seat next to him. “So, I know we’re here for research—” 

“You are,” said Alastor, pouring himself another glass. “I am but the chauffer.” He picked up the money, returning it to his pocket. “And sponsor, clearly.” 

Charlie hesitated. “Are you okay, Al? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink before.” 

“Well, we are on vacation, aren’t we?” This time he didn’t down the liquor in one gulp. He allowed it to linger on his tongue before swallowing, relishing the slight burn. “You were saying?” 

“R-Right. I still plan on getting the full hotel experience while we’re here. Even checking in has given me so many ideas! I’ll need to take notes, so I don’t forget anything.” She took out a notepad and pen from her purse. “Everything is so luxurious, don’t you think?” 

If someone enjoyed the ‘padded room’ aesthetic, then certainly. 

“But I figured, we might as well take in the sights too! I can only imagine how much has changed since . . . .” 

Alastor allowed the silence to hang between them.  

Charlie looked around awkwardly. “I’m sorry about the bed. We can ask for more pillows to create a wall between us. If that helps.” 

“You needn’t worry about me.” Alastor took another long sip before grabbing a different bottle from Husk’s bag. He read the label and realized he didn’t care what he was drinking, so long as it was strong. “I will make do.” 

“I don’t want you sleeping on the floor, Al. Or in the chairs. You should be comfortable!” 

“We’ll burn that bridge when we get there,” he said, fumbling over the words. His accent slipped as well. “In the meantime, you should do what you set out to do! There’s a whole hotel waiting to be explored.” 

Charlie stood and tipped her luggage onto the floor. “What about you? You’re not going to spend the whole day drinking, are you?” 

Alastor made one last drink and toasted to her. “Well, you could say I have some research of my own. But until then”—he tipped the glass back and grimaced—“I’m starting this trip off with a bang!” 

#hazbin hotel #radiobelle #charlastor #alastor #alastor the radio demon #charlie morningstar #charlie x alastor #alastor x charlie #alastor malveaux #charlotte magne

[i-write-sometimes-maybe]

Let Me Heal You!- Natasha Romanov XFemReader!

Synopsis: Natasha won’t let you do what you do best, but that’s not a surprise.

Warnings: mentions of wounds and blood, stubborn Natasha, mutant reader, implications of torturous past, slight mind control, fluff at the end ofc.

Word Count: 1.6k

A/n: I think this is totally canon. Let me know if you want to see more Natasha! All likes, comments, and reblogs are welcomed!

© This is my work, you have no right to repost my work for any reason without my explicit permission, all rights reserved.

☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎☁︎︎

“Alright, the files have been uploaded. Everyone get back to the quinjet!” Steve went over the comms.

‘Oh thank god.’

You let out a sigh, relief finally started to come back as you finally threw the last few Hydra agents away, the relief gave your powers an extra kick knowing that they could rest soon. You really didn’t care where you sent them, they were just lucky to be alive.

You turned around and began to journey back outside to where the quinjet was parked. As you rounded the corner, you nearly collided with Clint. Instinctively, you threw a punch to protect yourself, and he instantly dodged it.

“Woah there, Y/n. We’re all on the same team now, right?”

You sighed again, “Yeah, we are. Sorry, I wasn’t expecting to see you there. I’m on edge and I’d really like to get out of here.”

You didn’t want to be here any longer than necessary. You already knew that this place would mess with your head later and frankly, you were expecting that.

“Alright, no worries, we’re not too far now.”

He took the lead and you followed behind him. He navigated his way around each turn as if he’d been here before, you easily could’ve been the same way if you weren't so distracted during this mission’s briefing earlier in the week.

The pain and exhaustion started as soon as you saw the jet waiting for the both of you. You weren’t too worried about the pain or the cuts, you're an incredibly fast healer thanks to your powers. The only good thing that came from those experiments.

“Let’s go, I’ve got a padded seat calling my name.” Clint said, referring to the hours he had spent on the roof of a neighboring building to keep a look-out.

“I’m going, I’m going. You’re not the only one that wants out of here.” At this point, you were only a few yards from the jet but it still felt so far. “Are you alright? You don’t look too banged up.”

“I’m fine, just a few bruises.” He shrugged and walked up the ramp to the quinjet, instantly slumping into a seat.

You just nodded in acknowledgment, if there wasn’t anything for you to heal then you're good to sit too.

Only a few moments after you sat down, the rest of the team came from their respective areas and found their seats. Tony made his way straight to the front, still suited up.

You were guessing that he’s fine, just a little ticked off and ready to go back to the compound. You did a quick headcount, just to be sure no one is left behind.

“Everyone on and good? Good.” Tony instantly started the jet and initiated takeoff.

“How is everyone? Everyone doing relatively okay?” You asked, scanning over everyone.

Simple nods and a groan or two filled the jet, “No one is missing a limb right? That, I can’t fix.” You felt a little bit better about the situation when you heard a few chuckles.

It wasn’t much but some laughter helps.

You did another scan over everyone, this time you were sure to look extra hard at their injuries. Everyone had superficial cuts that would heal in just a few days and some bruising.

Your eyes landed on Natasha finally, You'd admit that you did look over her harder. It definitely wasn’t because she was your girlfriend and you wanted to tend to her first, not at all. But something was off.

She had her hand over her abdomen and was sitting at a weird angle. Her stoic spy expression was on her face, not a tired expression that she usually has after missions.

To anyone else, this is fine, she is fine. But you're not anyone. She may be a highly trained spy but she couldn’t get past you. You know her better than that.

You walked over to her and sat beside her, she shifted but it wasn’t to be closer to you. She moved to be sitting straighter but her arm didn’t move. Yeah, something wasn’t right.

“You are okay, right?” You asked even though you knew the answer.

“Yup, I’m fine.” That’s a lie. For a spy, you’d think she could lie to you better than that.

“I guess it’s a good thing I’m your girlfriend and it’s hard for you to lie to me. So, I’ll ask again, are you okay?” You were a little more stern this time.

She sighed, “I’m fine really, it’s just a scratch.”

“Uh huh, let me see it.”

“No.”

“Natasha.”

“I’m fine!” She kept trying to insist.

“Are you kidding me?”

She side-glanced at you, “What?”

“Something is wrong and I know it, so, you might as well show me now so I can heal you.”

“Y/n, I’m fine. Really.”

You sat beside her, staring at her face. You would’ve kept eye contact but she was staring ahead at the floor.

The one thing about her, you can’t break her. You know that for a fact, and of course, you know why. Your squinting glare, an attempt at intimidation and persuasion, did absolutely nothing. You weren't surprised though.

Neither of you moved from how you were sitting, and in no time you were all back at the compound.

As soon as you were safely docked, she instantly stood up. You noticed how she tried to hide a wince, and that's when you knew for certain that something was wrong.

Natasha was one of the first people off the quinjet, and if you know Natasha, which you do, you know that she’s going straight to her room to shower.

Well, she was going to try to. You used your powers to make her walk to the Med Bay.

“Really, Y/n? I am completely capable of walking myself.”

You continued to move her forward, “Oh I know, I’m just guiding you where you need to be.”

Natasha groaned the moment she realized where you were leading her. You opened the door and made her sit on an exam bed.

“Sit.” She tried to get up when you released your powers. “Stay.”

She rolled her eyes, “I am not a dog.”

“Good, then maybe you’ll listen better than one.”

Bruce walked in behind you, he had stayed behind so he could have the Med Bay ready for anyone that got injured on the mission.

“Let me see it.”

“Y/n, it’s nothing, it’s just a small scrape.”

You narrowed your eyes, “Then let me see it.” She didn’t move. “Do I have to do it myself?”

She finally gave up, “No.”

She moved her arm. And that's when you saw her suit ripped open and her side was bleeding.

“Nat, that’s not nothing! That’s a bullet scrape!” You moved towards her so you could heal her, but she put her arms up to stop you.

“Let me heal you!” You just wanted her to heal, or to at least stop the bleeding.

“No! I’m fine! Bruce, tell her I’m fine”

It definitely wasn’t the worst injury you’ve seen her come back with, but it wasn’t small either.

He looked around you and saw the wound, “Uh well-“

“Never mind!” She thought Bruce, a trained medical doctor, would side with her.

“Babe, please, just let me heal you.” You tried moving towards her again.

“Oh. I’m sorry, is this OUR wound?? No? Then stay out of it.” Why does she have to be so stubborn?

But you knew something you could say that would change her mind, “If you don’t let me heal you, then you won’t get kisses for a week.”

Her stoic face shifted into one of disbelief and concern, “Hold on now, no need to get carried away-“

“So. Let. Me. Heal. You.”

“Ugh! Fine!”

“Thank god! Now stop moving!”

You finally moved to her side, You looked at her and nodded so she could be prepared. Your healing doesn’t hurt but it’s still something to be prepared for. She nodded back, ready for it.

Nat wasn’t a stranger to your healing, almost every mission she came back from, she needed you to heal something on her.

Even more of a reason why you'd think she'd be more welcoming to your healing, but Nat would always downplay her injuries.

You placed your hand on her side, she winced a little bit when you added pressure.

You closed your eyes when you felt them start to glow, there was something about the glowing that you just never liked. You didn’t understand why that happens when you heal people.

Your hand began glowing against her skin, the tissue now fusing itself back together. You stayed like that for a few moments until you felt your powers calm to a stop.

When you opened your eyes again, you saw Natasha watching you.

You ignored her look as you looked over the once wounded area. Everything was fine and it was almost like she was never hurt to begin with. Though you have magic, it doesn’t prevent scarring. However, it does make it significantly better than it would be if she were to heal and scar on her own.

You backed away and grabbed a cloth, wiping your hands clean from her blood. That is the one thing you’d never get used to. And you never, ever, want to get used to it.

When you turned back to face Nat, she still had the same look on her face.

“You know, I like when your eyes glow when you’re healing.”

“What? Why?” you were so confused, you had never liked it.

She lightly shrugged, “I’m not sure, I think it just makes you that much more beautiful and unique.”

“Okay, I think Banner needs to check you for a concussion.”

“No, I mean it. I really do like it.” She put her hand in yours.

“Really?”

She nodded, “Really.” You smiled at her assurance. “Now I need to shower, care to join me?”

“Is that even a question? Absolutely.”

🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮🝮

Taglist: @inlovewithgreta @v3nusxsky @just-your-casual-nerd @pebbleswritessometimes @bigolgay @scream-queenlover @darkth1ngs @sgelessoanddoveykissing

#fanfic #oneshot #sapphic #natasha romanoff #natasha x you #natasha x y/n #natasha romonova #light angst #fluff #healing #scarlett johansson

[crimson-calligraphyx]

Tag List: @cheyfi @kingdomof-omens @daylightlvrs @blade-in-red @ladyveronikawrites @jay02bo @itsmrsfuentes @cncohshit @catj422 @lma1986 @chels3a-smile

A/N: The song I have Noah write is from this TikTok:

When Vic was able to calm me down after receiving Noah's present, she finally took me out for my birthday. Much to my surprise, she took me to the Beverly Hills Hotel, where we spent the majority of the evening relaxing at the spa. It was the most at peace I had felt in such a long time, and I was so very thankful for her surprise.

She took me out to dinner afterward, and though it was tempting to order myself a glass of cabernet sauvignon to pair with my steak, I didn't. I had to start somewhere, and I knew she was proud of me for doing so with the subtle grin and glimmer in her eyes.

It was very rewarding waking up this morning without a headache and being able to enjoy the way the sun poured into my bedroom through the skylight. I rolled onto my back and stretched, settling with my hands folded behind my head, admiring the way the clouds leisurely strolled across the sky. The only thing that would make waking up even better was if Noah were here, being wrapped in his warmth.

I certainly wasn't lying when I texted him saying that I missed him and that I wanted him to come home soon. He didn't respond to the message, which was disappointing, but I could understand that it might still be hard on him.

Maybe the saying 'distance makes the heart grow fonder' was true, after all. I missed waking up tangled in his arms and legs, opening my eyes to see the sleep glossing over his chocolate irises. I missed the sheepish grin paired with the low and raspy sound of his voice saying good morning. I missed the feeling of his lips grazing against my skin, so delicate and warm.

I missed the simple things, too—us occasionally dancing in the kitchen while preparing dinner or pushing each other away when we didn't want help with cooking. I missed the way his voice jumped several octaves when he got flustered while playing a video game or teasing him when he got startled. I missed him singing around the house mindlessly or while playing guitar or watching him and the guys practice.

God, did I miss his voice.

"Oh, that's right," I mumbled to myself, tossing the blankets off and sitting on the edge of my bed. I picked up the flash drive that I placed on the nightstand last night and rolled it in my palm; thinking about his voice reminded me that I still needed to listen to it.

I stood, stretching once more before retrieving my laptop and headphones, settling back onto the bed, and folding my legs in. I rested the computer in my lap, turning it on to let the flash drive upload the file. It buffered for a few moments, my stomach tying itself into knots the longer I was forced to stare at the spinning wheel of death.

It finishes, and I click into the file, the 'play' button staring me in the face. My heart hammers in my chest, picking up my headphones with trembling hands. Was I ready to listen to this?

I close my eyes and take a deep breath to steady my racing heart and settle the headphones on my head. After a minute or two, I opened my eyes and pressed 'play', an energetic guitar riff funneling into my ears. It quickly flows into a slower, almost sullen beat as his voice comes in, and my heart plummets to my gut hearing the pain in his voice.

Eyes start to blur out of focus I call out but you didn't notice You know that I know that you're hurting Still we sit alone

It wasn't a long recording by any means, but I played it over and over again just to hear the voice that I realized I had missed dearly. Each time it started over, my eyes filled with fresh tears, eventually spilling over, and streaming down my face. Before I knew it, I was sobbing.

I was selfish and chose to ignore all the times he tried to patch things up. I chose to focus on only the negatives, instead of seeing the message he was trying to portray the whole time: he does love and care about me. But I convinced myself that he didn't and was ruining our marriage like the fool that I am.

"Goddammit," I groaned and snapped my laptop shut. I pushed it away from me, tossing my headphones along with it, and rushed to my bathroom when a sudden wave of nausea washed over me. I found myself, yet again, vomiting.

When the brunt of it was over, I folded my arms on the seat and rested my forehead on them while I recouped, trying to calm my angry stomach. I was so sick of throwing up, and it only made me cry harder as it always did, leaving me an exhausted mess. I didn't even fucking drink yesterday—it had to be nerves. I was getting too worked up over everything with Noah.

I sat up with a huff, spitting one last time to clear anything remaining in my mouth before flushing the toilet. Standing, I took one look in the mirror and cringed—aside from the reddened blotches around my now swollen eyes, I was abnormally pale, and my forehead was beaded with sweat. I looked as terrible as I felt.

Tying my hair into a bun, I splashed cold water on my face in hopes of freshening up my appearance before emerging from my room—it didn’t help much. With a shrug, I washed my hands and made my way into the kitchen, where I was met by Vic. She was bent over, her head stuck deep inside the refrigerator as she presumably rummaged around for something to eat.

"Morning," I mumbled, watching her jump slightly as I startled her. "You bitch," she whisper-yelled while standing, and turns towards me with her hand planted over her heart. "Good morning," she chuckles. "You hungry?" I grimaced, the thought of food making my stomach flip. "No, but feel free to help yourself. I'm just gonna make some coffee." She furrows her brows, her head tilting inquisitively as her eyes roam my face. "You good? You're looking a little rough this morning."

I crossed the kitchen, making my way over to the coffeemaker. "Yeah," I sighed, reaching for the coffee filters in the cabinet. "Just have an upset stomach." I heard her mumble a quiet 'Oh' as I measured the grounds and asked her if she wanted any. I scooped double the amount when she said yes.

She cooked breakfast for herself as the coffee brewed; the smell of butter and egg frying made my insides stir once again. I braced myself with my palms against the counter and leaned close to the brewer, focusing the best that I could on the rich scent of coffee rather than the eggs. I was hoping that would hinder the nausea that was festering, but it didn't. Once again, I found myself sprinting to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet in time.

This wasn't normal for me to get sick as often as I had been. I was beginning to think that there was another reason for it…and that scared the fuck out of me.

There's a quiet knock on the doorframe, and seconds later I feel a hand rubbing circles in my back. "I'm okay," I groaned before Vic had a chance to ask, sitting back on my feet. "Must've been dinner from last night." "You sure? You told me you got sick at work yesterday, too." I hear the concern in her voice, but I shake it off, concentrating on the soothing feeling of her hand on my back. "I was hungover yesterday," I admit, letting out an exasperated sigh. "And I've been stressed about the shit going on with Noah, so that didn't help."

She remained silent for a moment, and I knew she didn't buy my excuse. Neither did I—I was never a stress puker, and she knew that.

"I'm buying you a pregnancy test," she states and straightens up, holding her hands out to help me stand. My heart leaps in my throat from the thought alone, and I frantically shake my head while I remain on the floor. "No, that's not it, Vic. I-it can't be, I'm on birth control." She rolls her eyes, folding her arms across her chest. "You know that shit's not 100% effective, Liv. You take one pill at the wrong time and—" "I know! I know," I let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand down my face. "Just...stop. Please."

I didn't want to hear it; I didn't want to think that there was even a chance that I could be pregnant. Not now. Not with Noah being as ill as he is, not with our marriage in shambles, not while I've been selfishly fucking binge drinking like there's no tomorrow.

"C'mon," Vic puts her hands out again. "Let's get you cleaned up and relax on the couch for a bit. I'm getting you that test whether you like it or not; the sooner you know, the sooner you can figure your shit out." I took a staggering breath in and reluctantly took her hands in mine, nodding. She brings me to my feet and leaves me to brush my teeth and wash my hands. When I finally left the bathroom and made my way to the living room, she had a cup of coffee waiting for me on the side table.

She hovered by the couch until I sat, and she draped the blanket I had strewn across the back of it over me while I reclined the seat. I rolled my eyes at her unnecessary hospitality and thanked her for making my coffee, even though I wasn't going to drink it after brushing my teeth. She told me to rest before grabbing her purse, and I was almost surprised she didn't give me a motherly kiss on the forehead before leaving. I laughed to myself at the thought.

When Vic came back from the store, my nerves kicked into overdrive, knowing she was going to drag me to the bathroom immediately. She does exactly that, and I stood in my bathroom completely frozen as I stared at the unopened test in my hands. I could feel her watching me, which only made me more apprehensive.

We stood there in silence for a few minutes while I mustered up the courage to rip open the packaging. My hands trembled, just staring at the daunting piece of plastic, and I hadn't even used it yet.

"You gonna watch me pee on the thing or what?" I asked her sarcastically, looking at her through my peripheral. I couldn't take my eyes off the test. "Right," she chuckles dryly, "I'll, uh, just be out there if you need me." I catch her thumbing over her shoulder before hesitantly making her exit. I puffed out a deep breath, deciding it was now or never, and sat down on the toilet while removing the cap.

I did my business, put the cap back on, set it on the counter, and waited.

-

Noah

It's been a week since Olivia's birthday, and I still haven't grown the balls to go home to her, even after she told me she missed me. Of course I missed her, too, but there was always that unsettling feeling inside of me whenever I thought about returning home. I wasn't sure how things would be between us, and I was afraid it would only worsen my condition. It was pathetic of me, I know, but I was working the courage up by reaching out to her at least.

My symptoms weren't subsiding, but they weren't getting any worse, either, which I guess was a good thing. Nevertheless, it sucked—breathing was still a task of its own, the coughing was still relentless at times, and I'm pretty sure I could've made Liv another bouquet of roses from the number of petals I was hacking up.

I was aimlessly channel surfing when my phone rang, and I smiled seeing that it was Olivia calling me. It had always been me reaching out to her this past week, and it warmed my heart a tad seeing her reach out instead.

"Hey, love," I answered, muting the TV before putting the remote down. Her cries answered me, and I immediately shot up in my seat with panic, my chest growing tight. "Olivia, what's wrong?" "I-I know things aren't exactly ideal between us," she pauses to let a sob out, and my heart sinks hearing it. "But I really need you right now," she whimpers out. I tell her to breathe—ironic from the man who literally had flowers growing in his lungs and could barely breathe himself.

I listen to her take several choppy breaths before she's able to speak again. "Can you come home?" her voice cracks. "I know it's probably hard for you but—" "I'm there," I cut her off without hesitation. "I'm coming. Are you safe?" I stand from the couch, walking as quickly as I can to the front door. She whimpers a 'yes' as I snagged my keys off the key rack.

I had to hold myself up against the door for a moment; the sudden movement from the couch to the door left me winded. I knew this was going to be difficult for me, but she needed me. I didn't care if I had to climb our front steps on my hands and knees, I had to be there for her.

She never told me what was going on, but after a drive that seemed far too long from how many times I had to pull over due to coughing so violently, I made it back home. I took a minute to gather myself, trying to rid some of the flowers in my lungs to the best of my ability before making the short trek to the front steps. It was intimidating, to say the least when I finally climbed them, my chest heaving while I stared at the door.

I didn't know what I was walking into, and I would be lying if I said that I wasn't the least bit terrified.

I forced myself to go in, making my way to our bedroom when I didn’t see her in the living room. The door was left ajar; I knocked softly to make my presence known before entering. I found her in bed, curled up in a ball as she clutched what appeared to be my pillow to her chest. Soft cries escaped her, and I didn’t waste a second to join her on the bed.

She gasps quietly when I sit, running a hand down the length of her unruly, yet soft hair—I must’ve startled her. “Hey, love,” I greet her gently, and she picks her head up to look at me. My heart shatters seeing her iridescent blue eyes swollen and glossed over, and a trail of dried tears running down her very much flushed cheeks. “You came,” she whispers, disbelief taking over her features. I smiled softly, giving her a quick nod. “In sickness and in health, remember?” Her lips tremble, and she squeezes her eyes shut, tears spilling down her cheeks. I pad my thumb under her eyes to dry them, and she wraps a hand around my wrist, keeping my hand on her face as she nuzzled against my palm. My heart swells—God, I fucking missed this.

I turn my head away abruptly and tuck my face into the elbow of my free arm, another round of coughs making their way out of me. I could feel the flowers coming up, and I tried my best to suppress them. I didn’t want her to see them.

“Noah,” she calls my name meekly, and I feel her hand tighten around my wrist. “I’m so sorry.” “Don’t,” I cough out, shaking my head. I turn my attention to the nightstand, noting the box of tissues, an ounce of relief washing over me. I grabbed one and rid the flowers in my mouth, crumpling the tissue and shoving it in my pocket before bringing my attention back to her. “I'm here for you right now. What's going on, love?”

She takes a deep breath, beginning to speak, but breaks out in hysterics again. "Shh, you're okay," I tried to console her, tugging on the pillow in her grasp. "C'mere. Let go of my pillow for a sec." I slip it from her hold and rest it against the headboard, leaning into it. "C'mere," I repeat and pat my chest, hoping to coax her into my arms.

Her cries falter and she looks up at me with a sniffle, and I can see the uncertainty in her eyes for a moment before she clambers on me. She buries her face in the crook of my neck, clinging onto my shirt for dear life as she settles into me with her leg draped over my side. Even though the added weight on my chest made it that much more difficult to breathe, I wrapped my arms around her and held her as tight as I could against me.

I could feel her trembling in my arms, her breath warm against my neck as she heaved, trying to even out her breathing. I rubbed circles in her back and pressed kisses into her hair, a hint of a smile forming on my face as the familiar scent of her coconut shampoo encased me. It wasn't under the best circumstances, but I was so fucking relieved to have her back in my arms again, even if it was only for a little while.

"Whenever you're ready, I'm all ears. I'm not going anywhere," I whispered, pressing my lips against her head again. "Are you sure you won't leave?" she mumbles against my neck, her breath now tickling me. I hummed at the sensation, quickly turning my head to the side as a cough made its way through again. "Positive," I tell her, trying to stifle my coughs. "Okay," she huffs, and moves her head slightly, looking up at me through her lashes. "I, um... God, this is so fucking hard for me to say." Her voice shakes, and I know she's trying not to cry as she squeezes her eyes shut again.

I was beginning to worry about her hesitancy, my heart pounding and my mind racing with all the possibilities. Was she terminally ill? Did something happen to her mom or Vic? Was there somebody else in the picture? God, please, no. "Olivia, you're starting to freak me out," I tell her, and it feels like there's a vice around my chest. "What's going on—" "Noah, I'm pregnant," she finally spits out.

In that instant, everything in the room seemed to be in a standstill—time, my heart, my breathing, my racing mind. I was not expecting those words to come out of her mouth, and it rendered me speechless, my jaw left hanging. "Pregnant?" I whispered, more to myself than her. Did I hear her correctly?

Everything resumes when I feel her pull herself out of my grasp. She's crying again, shaking her head, apologizing over and over again. What she was sorry for, I didn't know.

"Shh, Olivia," I sat up and placed my hands on her shoulders to gain her attention. She doesn't look at me; I delicately take hold of her chin between my thumb and index finger, guiding her face towards mine. "Why are you apologizing?" I asked her when she finally brought her eyes to mine and held her gaze. "Because I-I've been scared to tell y-you." I furrowed my brows at her, "Why?" "Y-you probably don't want a-anything to do with it," she chokes out. I dismiss her assumption with a shake of my head. "I never said that, did I?" I ran my hand down the length of her hair, hoping to reassure her. "N-no, I guess not," she sniffles, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her shirt. "That's right." I gave her a soft smile.

She continues to silently stare at me, tears still filling her eyes and spilling over. I palmed her face with both hands, swiping my thumbs across her cheeks to try to dry them once again. "Please stop crying, love. There's no reason to be upset." "Y-you're not mad?" I scoffed humorously, "No, of course not. Why would I be mad?" "I just thought...I-I don't know,” she stammers, followed by a defeated sigh. “With the way things are between us, I wasn’t sure if I should even keep it. I-I didn’t think you’d stay or want to be involved—” “But I’m staying, and I do want to be involved. You are my wife, Olivia, and I’ll support any decision you decide to make.”

She remained quiet, and I kept her face in my hands as I watched her soak in my words, her lips quivering the slightest bit while curling upwards in the corners. I grinned at her, simply admiring the growing smile that I missed so much, paired with my favorite shade of blue in her eyes. There was the start of that crinkle in her nose whenever she laughed or smiled big, and it made my heart swell seeing it—she really was the most precious thing in my life.

I lean forward to kiss her forehead, but she takes hold of my face and presses her lips to mine instead. For a split second I’m stunned, but I find myself quickly melting into her touch, smiling against her lips, and I can feel her smiling back. My whole body was filled with elation; there was this warmth starting in my chest and spreading through my veins, and in that moment, I felt like maybe, just maybe, things might fall back into place again.

|Chapter 17|

#fanfic #fan fiction #noah sebastian #bad omens #bad omens band #fanfic writing #romance #fantasy #quandary #noah sebastian x oc #noah sebastian fanfiction

[sorry-moots]

Inversion of Genesis But I Changed It

basically i decided to rework sumeru's interlude quest because i didn't like it and i feel like they did our scrimblo dirty also it's a reader insert because i love him characters featured: scaramouche, dottore (mentioned) cws: none wc: 599

masterlist | next

Chapter One

Snezhnayan mornings are rarely graced by daylight but today, the albedo from the previous night’s blizzard crept in and illuminated your bedroom.

With an aura of defeat, you pull your hair off your neck and into place so you can put on your work clothes. It would be a bit of a stretch to call it a uniform; many liberties were taken in its tailoring. The outfit consisted of a pair of cable knit stockings, a frilly white blouse, and a heavy skirt of black-and-crimson jacquard, which concealed half a dozen petticoats. Quite luxurious compared to the regular uniforms.

As you lace up your black leather boots, you think about your awful work conditions. The place itself was creepy enough with its harsh lighting and omnipresent chemical scent, but the mind games your boss played with you and the screams from his test subjects made your blood run cold.

Shaking yourself, you pulled on your black leather gloves and cloak. Dwelling on it would do you no good.

Finally, you grab your mask. The charcoal gray mask had the typical red stripe through the eye indicating your affiliation with the Fatui. In the middle where the wearer’s eyebrows would be, however, there is an extra marking. This little addition marks you not just as a Fatuus, but as a Fatuus working directly under the command of the 2nd Fatui Harbinger, Il Dottore.

You wanted nothing more than to toss it into the snow banks and forget about it, but your job was the only thing sustaining you. To leave the Fatui would be to freeze with no coal in your fireplace and die of hunger.

With this in mind, you pull the mask into place and step into the cold before you can convince yourself not to. ***** As usual, you arrive a little early to savor your last minutes of freedom before descending into the bowels of Zapolyarny Palace. You leave your Clydesdale at the stable and make your way to the palace at a leisurely pace, taking a breath of the stinging cold– but untainted– air.

You duck your head instantly upon noticing a commanding officer talking to one of the harbingers. Many of them are picky about etiquette and it’s never a good idea to offend one.

Nevertheless, one could hardly take offense at you walking a little slower than usual.

Making your way across the hall, you overhear their conversation:

“What do you mean there's no one available? I told you to find me a new assistant, you incompetent fool!”

An open position?

“My apologies, Lord Scaramouche, but unless someone volunteers to be reassigned, you’ll have to wait for the next induction ceremony.”

“Preposterous, that's months away! I'll drown in my own paperwork before then.” In that moment, you glanced briefly at the Harbinger, who had the bridge of his nose pinched tightly. “Find someone to take this bumbling fool’s place, or you’ll have the pleasure of being demoted to the position yourself,” he said, pointing his finger at the man menacingly before storming away.

Almost at light speed you double back to talk to the officer. Dropping into a quick curtsy, you blurted out, “Sir, I was wondering if you'd consider me for the position you were discussing with the Balladeer?”

Utterly bewildered, he replied, “Of course, but who in their right mind would choose to serve Lord Scaramouche?”

“The Doctor's assistant,” you responded ruefully.

The officer’s grimace was clear as day– in any other nation that is. “I see. Come with me and we’ll file the transfer order right now. Consider the job yours.”

a/n: lemme know if you're interested in this 👉🏼👈🏼 i'm planning on uploading what i have over the next few days; if you want me to tag you, i can do that too and yes reader talks to scara in the next chapter, this is just a VERY SLOW slow burn

master list | next

#genshin impact scaramouche #genshin scaramouche #scaramouche x reader #scaramouche x you #scaramouche x y/n #reader insert #x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #slow burn #genshin impact fanfics #genshin fanfic

[pudding-parade]

Rusalem by AnnetStore

Welcome to the inaugural World Overview Wednesday, wherein I have a look at some of the nice, mostly old, and perhaps obscure worlds I have tucked away in a massive archive of them. My purpose is to give these worlds a little love, to give as much info about them as I can, and to give you a link to them, both to the original upload if it still works and to a re-upload in case the original vanishes into the ether. That way, you can download them if you want to. I have almost 900 worlds in said archive, so we could be here for the next 17 years. Literally. I did the math.

Anyway! My first victim is Rusalem by AnnetStore. I really like this world, though I've never played in it. Think "Jerusalem" without the "Je," and it really does look a lot like that part of the world. I mean, look at that thing! It's beautiful in its stark desert-ness. It's a big world, beautifully terrain-painted, decorated with a nod toward authenticity with date palms, olive, and cypress trees, fully built/furnished, has a distant terrain, and it's populated. It is what I think Al Simhara should have been, except that it'd need pyramids for that, I guess.

This world was uploaded to the Exchange in December of 2011, and you can download it here, in case you missed that the title of this post is also a link. :) And if you do not wish to deal with the Exchange and/or sims3packs and you don't feel like converting it yourself, I have also uploaded the .world file I made here. You just plop that in your install files in the folder at GameData > Shared > NonPackaged > Worlds. No need to screw around with the launcher.

But before you do all that...more pics and info behind the cut.

Aside from the fact that it's 2048x2048 and comes with 45 residents (which I'm assuming is correct; I certainly didn't count them), there is zero info about this world. That said, I am pretty certain that it needs all of the EPs that had been released when this world was made, which means up to Pets. I noticed objects from all of the EPs up to Generations, and the world does generate minor pets, which I think means that it needs Pets, too, but I'm not sure about that. I take pics of these worlds in a save that has no store content installed, and I have only the High End Loft stuff pack, and I didn't notice anything missing on any of the lots, so I think it only needs the EP stuff. It neither comes with nor requires CC.

This world has basement rabbitholes on all of the rabbithole lots. Of course you can edit them and use rugs instead if you don't like the basement rabbitholes thing.

The world has all spawners (other than the Island Paradise and Into the Future ones, of course), and they are placed in a well-distributed way throughout the world.

Older worlds sometimes have weird issues because, for instance, EA breaks shit with patches. While taking pics of this world, it ran for five simdays. During that time, I sent my sim all over the place and the pre-made population was running around, too. I noticed no weird issues (like sims walking on water), had no notifications about stuck sims (except for a wild horse once, but they always get stuck), and generally saw no issues or lag. So, I think this one's OK in an up-to-date game.

Now let's take a look at the lots and stuff.

This is the main area of the world. It's up on a rise, and it's where the majority of the rabbitholes are as well as a good number of residential lots, many of which are unoccupied so you can move in plenty of your own sims even if you keep the pre-made population. Here's the Edit Town view, so you can see what's what with that:

Now let's take a look at some of these individual lots. Can't look at all of them because we'd be here until next Wednesday, but some of them.

This is the science lot. The building is mostly empty, but it does have an inventing station, and though you can't see them in the pic there are also scrap piles to collect scrap from on the lot. If you've got an inventor sim, this is where they'll need to go to get scrap if you don't want them to buy it because there isn't a dedicated junkyard in the world. There are also harvestables on the lot so that science-career sims can work on their Gardening skill before or after work, if they don't have a home garden. I would add the science objects from University Life, too, because of course that EP didn't exist when this world was created.

This is the city hall, which is quite fancy outside but almost entirely empty inside. So, there's three stories of space to add stuff, if you want to.

This is the fire station, which is nice but, oddly, doesn't come with a fire truck, so you'll need to add one. Or two, since there's two parking spaces of appropriate size.

This is the ziggurat-like library, and this...

...is part of the town's big park (and there are numerous smaller ones scattered throughout the world). It is not a seasonal festival lot because Seasons didn't yet exist when this world was made, but it would be easy to make it so, if you wanted to. You can also see the lot at one end of this park, which is set up as a wedding venue, with the arch and guest seating on the rooftop and a buffet table, bars, and tables/chairs inside the building.

This is the house where I placed the sim that I move into these worlds when I'm taking pics of them:

I have to say, the residential lots in this world are quite cute and match the theme very well. They are also all different, ranging in size from small starters, to moderate family homes, to expensive villas, to one honest-to-pie palace. They are all fully, albeit usually basically, furnished. Here's the furnishing in one of the starter-priced homes, which is suitable for a family of four:

And here is one of the expensive villas:

And here's the freakin' palace, which has a curtain wall with four towers and comes with two sports cars:

It's occupied by one of the pre-made families, but if you want to have your sims live in it, just annihilate/evict them. :)

Here's Edit Town views of the other smaller neighborhoods in the world:

Here's one of them in regular gameplay:

Most of them have their own little park/playground for the kids, and the one that's fairly far from "downtown" has its own grocery store and diner.

Here's one of the moderate family homes in one of the smaller neighborhoods:

Many of the homes in the world have outdoor living spaces, both covered patios as well as rooftop space. This particular house has both.

Now, about the pre-made population...Ehhhhh, I don't think they fit very well for the theme. Here are two of them:

Me, I'd nuke them and make my own families that would fit the theme better. But, I guess that's up to the player

The only other thing that might be a problem with this world is that the creator of it is Russian, so unless your game is also in Russian, you'll have a lot of dialogues and lot names/addresses/descriptions and such that look like this:

It's easy to change sims' names with Master Controller, but I don't think it's possible to change lot addresses. So, there's that. But, it's pretty easy to figure out what's what.

And we'll finish off with some more scenery, including sunset pics plus a nighttime one of the "downtown" area.

#sims 3 #world overview #world overview wednesday #sims 3 scenery

[cyle]

for the followers i have who love the technical insides of tumblr...

i've been living on tumblr every day with the gifs-as-mp4 change for over a month now and honestly, i didn't even know that change had been made until i stumbled upon it in an internal changelog about it. it's really that good: we only serve GIFs as MP4 when it makes sense. we do, literally, have many thousands of samples of the conversion process to look at (probably a lot more now). even at tumblr's scale, that's tiny, but the experience feels pretty good with the tuning we've done so far.

more specific examples of where it goes wrong will make it even better, so please send them in.

the really hard part about working on something like tumblr is its scale. we serve millions (tens of millions? hundreds?) of GIFs every single day to the internet at large. think about that: how many things in the world get served tens of millions of times? maybe mcdonalds hamburgers?

the effort of making that thing more performant, smaller, faster, "better", is worth it, to a point. finding that balance point is the really, really hard part. because the money doesn't come from nowhere. we've been serving GIFs as WebP for many years now, with nobody noticing (ok, a few people noticed), to huge benefit. you're already not seeing "real" GIFs!!!!! you didn't even notice!!!!!!

the vast majority of GIFs on tumblr (based on our random sampling) are TV- and film-like stuff, like this:

.... which is almost totally imperceptibly different when served as an H264 MP4 versus a literal GIF. by the way, that example is already actually an WebP image, not a GIF. that change literally saves us a lot of money and CPU time and whatnot trying to serve that as an MP4 instead of a 1987 GIF. in fact, if we let you upload that as an h264 mp4 instead of a GIF, it'd probably look better, since Netflix serves that to you as an h264 mp4 originally.

know your formats! the GIFs you're seeing on tumblr probably started as h264 mp4 files!!!!!!

but there are still tons of tumblr artists who use GIFs to their maximum potential (i follow a few), and i haven't seen any change to how we serve their GIFs. usually they exceed our criteria of when we'd try to serve an mp4, so i see their GIF (or webp) instead. i have some hope that we'll create some kind of Tumblr setting to "prefer GIFs" or something, but still, that'll be for the tiny minority of picky tumblr consumers. audiophiles? more on that thought in a second.

it's interesting, though, how we (Tumblr) introduced "data saving" options, which were universally loved, but basically do this same thing: serve images and videos in formats that are better for your bandwidth and CPU, at the likely cost of quality. there's a very large (silent majority) of Tumblr users who actually want this as a default all the time. they prefer a fast, efficient tumblr, over a perfect fidelity tumblr. i would too if i was living in a place with slow internet, which is a lot of the world today.

i don't blame them; i used to spend a week every year at a house that only had 1mbps internet, and the "data saving" options we've added to tumblr really helped me. i literally could not have used tumblr without it. that's a lot of peoples' experience every day.

there's a debate here about creator versus consumer quality, which is wonderful, that's a lot like what audiophiles and film enthusiasts debate about (i'm an active participant in these debates), but ultimately this gets trumped by an argument about what level of quality is discernably acceptable to the consumer. there's a 0.001% bleeding edge of people who can really know quality, definitely. but can you make decisions for a whole platform based on that? maybe. probably not? how is Tidal doing?

anyway, these are the fun thought exercises of someone like me trying to wrap their heads around how Tumblr can improve for the literal millions of people using it every day.

[kitakati]

Sim Upload - Fernando Martinez 🎶 (La Flaca - Universe)

I had a request to share him so I thought I would post publicly in case anyone else wanted him in their game! Link to the onedrive folder with tray files, cc that follows TOU guidelines, and notes where you can find all the rest of his cc! Keep in mind that I made this sim for myself, so he uses a TON of cc, I didn't change any of it to minimize anything but you can download what cc you'd like! All cc used is already released and free, however, there are THE SIMS RESOURCE CURSEFORGE and PATREON links throughout, so keep that in mind. Hope you enjoy, please read my tou in the notes, and tag @ kitakati if you wanna share him in your game 🥰

Fernando Martinez (He/him) (Pansexual)

Birthday October 28th Mid-20s (Scorpio)

Successful Lineage Aspiration

Family Oriented | Hot Headed | Loner | Active | Paranoid

Likes: Black, Blue, Hip Hop, Latin Pop, Singer Songwriter, Fitness, Video Games, Gossip, Arguments

Dislikes: Yellow, Winter Holiday Music, Compliments, Jokes, Complaints

Likes: Black, Blue, Hip Hop, Latin Pop, Singer Songwriter, Fitness, Video Games, Gossip, Arguments

Dislikes: Yellow, Winter Holiday Music, Compliments, Jokes, Complaints

Thank you to cc creators! I don't claim to own any cc shared.

Mods Used

Unlimited Likes/Dislikes | More Traits in Cas | Color Sliders for CAS | Cas Unlocks | Default 7V (top, feet normal, feet socks)

Skin | Tone | Tint | Detail 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 | Eyes | Lips | Teeth | Hair | Brows | Beard | Eyelashes | Body Hair | Tattoo 1, 2, 3a (curseforge) 3b (patreon), 4a (curseforge) 4b (patreon), 5 | Injury 1, 2, 3, 4, 5a (boosty) 5b (patreon) | Eyeshadow | Eye Liner

Top 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 | Bottom 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | Full Outfit | Shoes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 | Undershirt Acc | Invisible Hat Acc | Necklace 1, 2, 3 | Hat

Slider 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 <-(nsfw site) simfileshare | Preset 1 , 2, 3

Fernando Martinez

About Him: Fernando grew up in a place where all odds were against him. His childhood was mostly full of pain, violence, and hatred toward him, not to mention having to be closeted about his sexuality (gay in high school, pansexual as an adult) up until after he had been expelled from high school for getting in too many fights. The last straw was when Fernando beat the principal's son for outing and insulting his and Isai's down-low relationship in Senior Year. After that, Fernando did part time jobs where he could get them. He was pressured by the gang in their neighborhood to get involved in small time smuggling, and he agreed if it could earn enough money to keep Mari and himself fed and clothed after their dad abandoned them. Years later, he's now out of the Boyd Heights Del Sol Valley barrio and living in Mirage Park, staying neutral with the local gangs, and helping keep watch over Isai's dad and their property. Every once in a while, Isai and him get into little arguments about how he won't accept Isai's money as thanks. Fernando prefers to fend for himself as best as he can, not caring who he hurts or steps on to survive. He is highly secretive about his issues, holding his thoughts and feelings close to his chest until he feels comfortable to trust someone who will care and listen. Fernando is extremely vigilant--you can find him always scoping his surroundings for any fast movement, slowly swaying side to side ready to move. At first glance he may seem a bit distant and cold, but he is very kind, has soft and deep emotions and takes all his relationships very seriously. Fernando is fiercely loyal to his friends and family, but he doesn't get along with people too well. He does his best until he loses his temper and has a sharp bite.

#ts4 #the sims 4 #ts4 cas #simblr #my sims #sim download #sim: fernando #sims3melancholic #obscurus sims #johnnysims #thisisthem #goppolsme #caroll91 #simpeachie #moonmoonsim #mclaynesims #a3ru #nv games #nell le #ddarkstonee #nucrests #lazyeyelids #kksims #darte77 #whimp1337 #beto ae0 #woosteru #liliili sims #jadescorpion #shakeproductions

[creek-ink]

hi! i recently have been getting into creepy pasta and was wondering if you had any suggestions on where to start? like any series to watch or read? also i adore your art!

oh boy. first off, thank u. second, I'm so sry.

so! if u aren't already aware, the majority of the og creepypastas r shhhiiiiiittt. but! there r some good ones out there, so if ur trying to get into the fandom side of things, i'd recommend smth like needles and smiles by mr.bettykruger. (im pretty sure he took them down, but u can still find re-uploads on yt)

another good one to get into is the morgue files. it's relatively new and is made by/involves some pretty big names in the community, so imo It's a good introductory to the fandom.

in general, there's plenty of playlists/compilations of the classic stories on yt if that's smth ur interested in.

the fandom is very headcannon based, so backstorys, appearances, ages and even names can be completely changed, all while referring to the same source character.

id like to mention that even tho args (alternate reality games) aren't nescisarly creepypastas, the fanbases do cross over. if ur on the slenderman side of things, i'd recommend diving into the bigger slenderverse series or at least watching an analysis of them. chances r if u love crp u'll also love args too ^-^

a great place to go for breakdowns of args (or all internet spooks for that matter) is the yt channel night mind. @nick-nocturne is i n s a n e when it comes to internet horror. (also bonus points for sexxxy voice)

and hey! just a fair warning a lot of creepypastas were made in a different time of the internet. when u could say literal slurs and everything would be fine. so just a heads up when it comes to checking out older content- there could be some triggering stuff in there, and u might want to visit the wikis before diving too deep if ur sensitive abt certain subjects. regardless, be safe out there, and i hope u enjoy the ride. just when u think you've seen everything, there's brand new media being created!!

also sry if this is scattered- i've never been asked this b4 and i kinda paniced xD

#creepypasta fandom #creepypasta #slenderverse #asks #ask #anon asks #txt post #txt

[yuezhong]

Cottagecore

a/n: can you believe this has been sitting in my drafts since last year. Anyway, without further ado I present to you my own take on the cottagecore aesthetic featuring Eula,Albedo,Kaeya,Zhongli and Kazuha!! 

Addendum: Dedicating Kaeya,Albedo and Kazuha's parts to my dearest friends <3. Starfell, my dear/p thank you so much for helping me manage my genshin account during my period of absence (due to finals). We have known each other for quite a while now and I have come to treasure our friendship a lot, thank you for everything you've done for me up until now. It's my turn to return the favour <3. 

Rei, I have come to know you for quite some time now as well, thank you for being a good friend and joining in on me and Starfell's shenanigans in our server haha.

Almond gege!! Though it's been a while since we last talked via dms it's still a lot of fun when I get to talk to you!! I adore your writing style and enjoy interacting with you in general :3 I genuinely cherish you as a friend and am hoping for the best for our friendship!! 

And now I'm done expressing my gratitude and platonic lovemail, happy reading!!

warnings: none

notes:© all rights belong to yuezhong. Eula Lawrence, Albedo Kreideprinz, Kaeya Alberich, Zhongli and Kaedehara Kazuha belong to Hoyoverse. Please do not plagiarize or copy any of my works and upload them anywhere. Reblog if you enjoyed! It helps a lot <3. Taglist form is still closed as of now.

☆ EULA LAWRENCE

Born into a life of wealth and luxury, EULA never had to worry about the woes of being in poverty nor fret over being unable to place food on her plate. 

Despite indulging in the multitudinal privileges of a silver spoon, she longs for freedom. She yearns to dance shoeless amongst large, open prairies beyond her comfortable, but stuffy abode. She yearns to run through the village streets, arms linked with friends while laughing heartily without a care in the world.

Because surely, she was meant for more than just practised smiles, business negotiations, and the inevitable arranged marriage with another influential industrial partner to expand her family’s power? 

Yearning leads to wanting, wanting leads to acting on one’s desires. Eula embodies this by her recent absences in her lessons; opting to go on introspective strolls in the nearby woodland to recollect her thoughts. 

When tutors came knocking on the door of Lord and Lady Lawrence to file yet another complaint of their eldest’s disappearance, the owners of the manor could only release twin huffs of exhausted exasperation; for they knew there was nothing they could do about their daughter’s one-track mind on her quests for freedom, though they were transient. 

The unpredictability of what life had to offer was daunting, yet oh-so wondrous at the same time. Chancing upon you was one of the latter. 

It was just one step of absent-mindedness, an innocent meeting of eyes.

Your congregation with her was fairytale-esque, whimsical with a touch of something reminiscent of a past love story. Perhaps you two were soulmates of a crueller past?; Bound once more by fate’s merciful hand. 

Whatever the circumstances that led to the two of you currently curling into the other’s embrace could not change one thing though: Her family would never approve of the blooming feelings between you two. This you know well. 

After all, why would they give their blessings entailing their daughter’s happiness to an outcast like you? Much less a witch. You are branded a sinner for your practices in sorcery, a cesspool of evil (or that was what most thought).

But in Eula’s eyes, she saw none of that sort. 

You are her safe haven, the fields of elysium where she can frolic blissfully all day long. And to secure the safety of it, she will brave every snowstorm, cut through biting frost thrown against both of you by the rest of the world. 

☆ALBEDO KREIDEPRINZ

As the sole medical practitioner in his village, ALBEDO is exalted for his role.

He takes pride in his line of work; but never exudes hubris for his achievements. Ever the humble worker, he tends to all with kindness: welcoming them with open arms entwined with generosity. 

Other than his amicable presence, his intellect is another one of the driving forces that gravitates people towards him. 

Scholars and members of academia alike sing praises for his sincere manner of speech, his efficacy in carrying out tasks. Cordial words bring the gist of topics in his medical presentations to life; holding candle light to Minerva’s clever hand in weaving embroidered tales. Yet his diligence keeps him on the right path, never straying from his destination. Patients recount his gentleness in treating their ailments, not once uttering words of ill-intent about their pains or the lengthy periods of time needed to guide them to full-recovery. 

Not born a social butterfly, Albedo instead opts to sit in the shade of his veranda⎯⎯ a structure of respite within the large expanse of the garden surrounding his cottage. He’d sit cross-legged with a book in hand on one of the chairs⎯⎯wrought carefully of fine mahogany as he savoured his favourite blend of tea languidly. 

It is only when he hears your voice does his ears perk up (figuratively). Carefully, he slots his bookmark between the pages to mark the passage he stopped on prior to your arrival. 

“Albedo!” 

He could feel the corners of his lips quirk up faintly at the sound of your voice as you jog towards him. Ah, what a lovely day to spend it outside.  

☆ KAEYA ALBERICH

“The word trouble and KAEYA go hand in hand.” These are the whispers of superficial neighbours that often reach your ears.

As his playmate who has seen him through thick and thin since young, you dismiss their hollow words easily. There is certainly more depth to Kaeya than it meets the eye; the many layered undertones of his character and complex past are two of the few clandestine things he entrusts you with. 

As the son of your village’s chief, it is not uncommon to find him out and about. This could be the direct link to the so-called “trouble” he causes, which is in reality just people’s misinterpretations of his intentions; and on top of that he somehow always manages to find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

His unintentional penchant for attracting misfortune has left even his close ones baffled. And so, you take it upon yourself to rectify or at least mitigate this inborn unfortunate trait of his. 

“Kaeya!” 

A few soft taps against the glass window of the wooden hut where he shares residence with his father snaps him out of the dazed trance he somehow managed to fall into. Kaeya shifts his gaze to the source of your suppressed cry, grey eye glinting with a fondness only reserved for you and you alone. 

Gingerly, he presses both palms onto the cool, flat surface of both panes. Then after he has made sure you backed away completely from the window, he exerts a little more pressure onto the panes. 

“Hi.” His familiar, half-crescent smile greets you. 

“Hi.” Reciprocating with a grin, you rummage through the burlap sack, sifting through the various items stored away inside which were not visible to Kaeya’s wandering eye. 

“It’s an amulet, to keep you out of trouble.” You smile, cupping the said object in your hand with practised caution before placing it into his. 

Cooing a flirtatious “thank you, darling~ I will be sure to return the favour.” directly into your ear, Kaeya leans forward to press a kiss onto your cheek. He only chuckled at your attempts to hide your flustered state as he slipped off into the sableness of the night, guided by Luna's mellow rays. 

☆ZHONGLI

Toiling away at his crops diligently, ZHONGLI pauses to wipe the sweat away from his brows with the back of his hand. 

“Ah,hello.” He smiles warmly, tipping his straw hat in jest at you. Chuckling at the sound of your laugh at his little gesticulation, he beckons you into his cottage with a courteous hand.

 What awaits you inside are two earthen cups (moulded by his clever hand on his potter’s wheel) of lukewarm tea 𑁋 lavender, he informs. Ever the gentleman, Zhongli pulls your chair out for you as you set your things down by the door. 

An hour of idle chit-chat and degusting his wonderful tea later, he noticed your furrowed brows were directed at something outside one of the windows. Following your line of sight, he instantly knew why as soon as he set his eyes on a cluster of cumulonimbus clouds gathering in the sky.

“Would you like to stay over?” He proffered. 

A timid “yes please, apologies for the intrusion.” draws the smile you love so much from his lips. 

☆ KAEDEHARA KAZUHA

As a wanderer, KAZUHA has acclimated to the various perks and quirks of life on the-go. Whether it be finding lodgings in peculiar places or the capricious storms Inazuma brings.

Occasionally though, he would take a break from his nomadic lifestyle and settle down in small villages or suburban towns bustling with life for as long as he feels like it. 

That was how he was going to spend the rest of his life 𑁋 as a drifter, free as the winds captured by the sails of his raft he always relied upon to take him to new places; or so he thought.

A fond smile replaces his once neutral countenance as Kazuha gazes at the band of his ring resting snugly around his fourth finger. It has been a year since he became wedded to you and settled down for good. Yet, it still feels like a dream to him.

Kazuha’s mind couldn’t help but navigate its way back to the day before his promise of devoting himself to you as his bandaged fingers traced over the ring’s cool surface. You and him met by mere happenstance, it was as if fate had woven this indeterminate path for him and you were the one who lifted the mist that veiled it. 

Your magnanimity is something he will be eternally grateful for. Had you not offered to share your cottage with him when it was peak tourist season, he would have been homeless. 

Ah, your profession of your feelings to him is another one of the memories he holds dear in his repertoire. 

“The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?” If you had been any softer, the words that slipped from your lips would have been whisked away by the tranquil night breeze.

His eyes fluttered shut in content. Kazuha nodded in assent.

“Indeed. I would be delighted to watch it together with you for as long as we shall live.”

You are half his soul, his north star and his inspiration for the poetry he waxes.

➵❁Taglist: @almond-adeptus @scribs-dibs @s4egusas @lilikags @thesapphirecake

#bouquets from the florist ❧《💐》 #eula x reader #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact fluff #genshin fluff #kaeya x reader #kaeya fluff #kaeya x reader fluff #eula x reader fluff #eula lawrence #zhongli #zhongli x reader #zhongli x reader fluff #kazuha x reader #kazuha x reader fluff #kaedehara kazuha #albedo x reader #albedo kreideprinz #albedo x reader fluff

[geekcat]

Weeks had passed since Dib and Zim had celebrated Halloween together. Now, it was the middle of November, the temperature outside had dropped, and there was even some snow covering the ground.

But the two of them spent most of their time inside, preparing for their eventual space trip. Zim (with Dib's help) was working on upgrading the Voot to be comfortable for them both, though he mentioned a few times they might upgrade to another ship to make their travels a little easier. They'd need to save up some more credits for that, though.

Dib expected they'd be working on that for most of the day…until they got derailed with just a few questions from Zim.

“So…what places would you like to go to first?” Zim asked.

Dib frowned as he thought about it. He couldn't think of any places he'd want to revisit and said so. Zim paused and turned to look at him, asking if he knew of any places he hadn't already been to, or had heard Zim mention. Dib had to admit he didn't think so.

“…you do know how to navigate through the cosmos, right?” Zim had asked. “You could travel to a specific location if you had to?”

"I don't know," Dib had admitted. "I've always just followed you into space, or convinced the ship to jump directly to wherever I needed to go."

Zim declared that his partner's lack of knowledge was 'unacceptable', and that he'd need to 'immediately rectify the situation'. Dib had been a bit worried, but apparently, all Zim had in mind (for now) was pulling out a large star chart of the nearest inhabited galaxy and giving Dib a tablet with several historical and geographic files uploaded to it. He'd shoved it into Dib's hands and insisted he study up, ignoring Dib's moaning.

“Can't I just look all this up as I need it?” he said after an hour of looking through and being quizzed on maps. “I mean, you're working on a device to translate for me, right? Can't we make another for all of this?”

Zim looked up from his newest knitting project. “And when we're in danger, and I'm busy firing to keep bogeys from chasing us, you would know exactly where to fly us to without looking it up?”

“Yeah, away from whoever's chasing us.”

Read Chapter 1 of With Eyes to Space on AO3!

#zadr #invader zim #fanfiction #my writing #touch starved and sated #with eyes to space

[petalruesim]

I'm really unhappy with MTS right now. I understand the need for moderating content on their site and I don't even mind waiting in the queue for my content to be posted. What bothers me is the inconsistency in moderation and the blatant disregard for my inquiries.

The first time I used their 'Bypass Queue' feature, my post was removed for missing comparison pictures. According to their rules, minor issues should prompt a comment from a moderator requesting fixes within three days, while major issues should be returned to the queue marked as 'Changes Required' with a seven-day deadline.

They didn't do any of that. The post was pulled out, marked as 'Rejected' and this all happened a day after it was posted. Although an admin restored the post, they didn't address what happened or respond to my questions and was like 'here I restored it, it's back in the queue so fix it before the moderation'.

I admit it was an oversight on my part not to include comparison pictures for a renovation lot, but why was my first upload—a renovation of Sunset Valley's Library without comparison pictures—approved? That's where the inconsistency of their moderation comes in. This is strike one.

The second time, I received a 'Changes Required' warning for my campground lot because I didn't include a link for custom content in their designated section. However, before I could even read the email, I received another email saying it was already approved.

I asked a clarification on what happened due to their CC Credit section was supposed to be for cc included in the download file. But I never include those items in my downloads and offer a link instead to download it separately which I placed in the description of the lot.

I wanted to make sure that it never happened again so I asked nicely on the correct process for such things but I still never received a reply. Okay, it's fine, it was approved already so I thought they didn't want to respond to something that was already 'resolved' on their end. Strike two.

This time, I received a 'Changes Required' warning for my beach lot. And guess what the reason was? Yes, the same issue as before, no link of the store content and a moderator left a "feedback" to put the link in their Custom Content Credit section of their upload wizard.

I had clearly provided all necessary information in my description even providing a direct link in bold and underlined to make it even clearer for everyone and a disclaimer that it is not required nor included in the download file. Like how blind can you be to not see that?

I informed them of this, pointing out that it was the second time this had happened. An administrator intervened, instead of the moderator who moderated that post, and basically admitted it was a mistake. Strike three.

It's frustrating that despite having clear rules, some moderators don't follow them or take accountability for their oversights. I was initially willing to give them the benefit of the doubt but this ongoing inconsistency and ignoring my valid questions is infuriating.

MTS may have a large audience for TS3 content, and it's nice to see comments and download counts increase, but it's no longer worth it for me. I no longer care about download counts or followers these days and I have no interest in moving to Patreon or monetizing my downloads with ads so I don't need any other exposure.

I just want to share my old builds because it took time to build them and they were wasting away in my folders. I wish there was a better site suited for TS3 creators and I guess I'll focus more on Tumblr from now on.

XOXO, petalrue🌺

#i just want to vent

[sammysundog]

hi Sammy! hopefully I'm not pestering you (I'm ThatDayDreamer on yt btw), but I had to ask where would you upload a maxis redo/no cc version of Ajay Loner's house you made in your Strangeview series please? are you on modthesims? tysm have a lovely day 💚💚

You are not pestering at all! I was thinking I could post it here on tumblr & on my website for safe keeping, but I figured this ask would be a good place to go ahead and share! Download below the cut! 💚

So the lot did end up having a bit of CC which is of course not included in the file download itself. I am gonna list what I did use all below but most of the place is Maxis so if you don't want to mess with the CC you can just not download it and replace the items in your game (I did all the proper file cleaning of this version of the lot too to make it safe).

Lot Download Here!

CC Used (Not Included)

Shiftable OMSP 

Stair Wall Fix

Monique's Hacked Computer as 3t2 PC (really not necessary but technically it's in there lol)

Bunch of plants from this set

This Pool Table

Social Bunny Statue from here (EP06 Backdrops Link)

This neon light set

These custom beddings (green cross hatch one used)

That's it! I also recommend using this rug fix for any rugs placed off grid, and of course installing the lot with the Clean Installer.

Below are a few shots of the lot in my Strangeview for those who might also be interested in having it but are not familiar:

#the sims 2 #ts2 #lot download #ajay loner house #answer

[cozymochi]

im so sorry people are being assholes in the comments of ur iz animatics :((( they bring such joy and are so well done!! forever grateful that you share you art <3 even if you decide to take them down i just wanted to let you know that you are appreciated <3<3<3 hoping your day goes well and you find small unexpected delights

I don’t plan on taking them down. That carnal part of me gets a lil’ joy when I still see nice comments anyway. It’s only been a year, but I still get comments! So that’s crazy.

BUT!!

Another fear I do have is the response if I do post again, and it’s completely different than what those 2.4k subs are expecting to see. I’ve already warned about it literally a year in advance, and then again very recently in multiple places. Idk why I SHOULD be uneased by it, but it’s not like IZ fans are quiet when it comes to their distaste when something changes. *cough.* It’s part of why I’ve distanced myself from that fandom (there’s a myriad of reasons but still).

Insanity incoming:

I don’t have immediate plans to make more animatics, they’re kind of long term thing to consider. Back when I used to make them I had NOTHING but free time and my biggest concern was feeding myself cuz my home environment was horrid and I had zero means of leaving since I lived in bum fuck nowhere! Since my last yt upload I moved out, was in a car wreck (not even 2 days in), my own car went through thousands of dollars in repairs, i got a job, went through a period where I worked nearly 100hrs for several months consecutively with hardly any breaks, and to think! It wasn’t and it’s still not sustainable. Things changed. And I do not want to go “home.” After being forced to visit family again a month ago I especially don’t want to go back.

The channel was literally a dumping ground. I got those 2k subs when I wasn’t posting for a year. So! You can imagine I might not be prioritizing a channel I only used as a dumping ground or in a state to make fully or even barely boarded videos and shitposts weekly or monthly. Idk what these people want from me schedule wise. I make $0 from it, and monetizing for a few cents isn’t worth it. I didn’t even get paid when I made thumbnails and assets for bigger channels lmfao. Yeah, I did do that. Wouldn’t know tho. Paid in “exposure” hurr hurr or “omg i need that money myself XDD cmon” whatever backwards excuse.

So what’s next in line but a bunch of strangers with fickle attention being passive aggressive and demanding I make more stuff when I say multiple times that I don’t intend to, and if I do (big if) it WON’T be what they came here for. They aren’t paying me. It’s not like I have a gajillion other things to be concerned about.

…Okay, that was a tangent.

Those few condescending comments make me just wanna outright cancel what iz stuff was left on the backburner. It was more like an indefinite hiatus until I can stomach finishing them. The files take up space anyway for the projects I’m actually interested in. Even if all of them are purely hypotheticals until I can get my focus together (which isn’t likely to happen anytime soon).

sorry about the TMI rant for a second but!! MAN!! It’s frustrating! If anything I could very well take them down. But, I won’t. Besides, for all I know some tiktok took some and it’s getting an exponentially higher amount of views anyway. I should at least keep mine…

It’s not like i don’t WANT to use it for actual new things, but the sheer pressure keeps me away. I get enough pressure to make animatics offline as it is. And if someone out there is gonna be all like “well who cares what those kids think” believe me, I get it and I promise don’t care. But at the same time it’s egghhhhhh. I delete the comments anyway.… however that doesn’t mean they still won’t bug me.

Considering all of the above it’s a miracle I don’t just take them down.

#cozy ask #Any of the condescending comments I just delete anyway. #i dont have the chops to be a ‘content creator’ or whatever robotic term people use nowadays #im not a content creator! #i just make shit then pin it on the fridge #i promise the annoying remarks are few and far between. its mostly just quoting the video or nice stuff #I dont even read them often. i just check if im bored or on accident

[grimmbitty]

Handmade DC intro title card for a Shazam film that I made up!!⚡️

This post is kinda interesting because I have not tried my hand at video editing in a while. I’m hoping to get one of my friends to help me install photoshop on my computer so I can remake this sequence with actual 3D assets. But for now? They’re hand drawn in procreate.

I thought I would share some behind the scenes of how I made this for anyone who might be interested in doing something similar! :D

[ Behind the Scenes Info Below ⬇️ ]

Okay so I decided to make this intro as kinda like a “ooh what if I made my own Shazam film? How would I do the opening DC title? I would want it to be like a dark and spooky night, then have the camera be panning down through the clouds. Then I could easily transition into the opening scene because that takes place during a dark and stormy night. OOoOoO.”

But first, in order to do that I had to make modifications to the DC logo. I didn’t want to use any premade 3D assets they had; I wanted to make my own. However, I don’t currently have photoshop, so I had to improvise and make a 2D logo kinda look 3D with some extra layers and shading tricks. I did this in procreate, but any art app will do really. Just keep your preferred perspective in mind.

Then after I was done with making sure my perspective was all good and in check I then proceeded to decorate the hell out of the logo with a bunch of clipping masks lol. I just slapped a bunch of different things on there. Some lense flares, some random brushes, some multiply layers, whatever. I didn’t really have a plan in mind when I did this I just kinda went with the vibes.

Then after that I made another file where I just worked on the little sparkle effect that I added in. For the sparkle effect I just picked like a default brush in procreate that looked pretty and then animated it to do a little slide across the letter “D”.

Next, I did some work on the backgrounds. I made sure to have really “tall” files so that way I could make them slide down in my video editor. This kinda gives that vibe that we are descending through the clouds, hopefully towards an establishing shot, for our opening scene, for our fake movie.

I made two parts for this. One animated background where I changed to opacity of the backlight for each frame to kinda give the illusion that lightning was peaking through the clouds. The second was just some clouds that I was gonna overlay on top of the DC logo, so it just felt more like everything was in the scene together.

I would provide video examples of this, but tumblr only allows me to upload one video per post. And if you’re wondering what brushes I used to this? I just googled “Procreate free cloud brushes” and downloaded the top result.

The ones I’m using are made by an artist named DI, and I got them off of gumroad. Info for their socials provided in the third image below.

And then once I had all of those assets together I just edited them all together in a program called HitFilm Express. I used to like it a lot since it’s free, and I used to use it to edit YouTube videos. That was back when I used to upload my Minecraft videos with my friends online lol. However, recently HitFilm has put a lot of features I used to use behind a paywall so :/. I’m probably going to look for alternatives sometime soon.

Normally I don’t mind being restricted in some sense for a free program, but they disabled the ability to fade clips in and out, and I think that’s a vital tool. It’s a shame to see it locked behind a paywall because I used it in pretty much all my projects.

And lastly the audio! I just found free to use clips of rain sounds, thunder claps, and then some ambient music. The track you can hear in this short clip is the intro to the song Redeye - Green House (1994). The artist is also known as Tobias Beldermann if any of you guys were curious where I got that from.

Buttttt yeah! That’s about all I have for showing you guys how I made my little 5 second clip. I’m not really one who’s qualified to make “tutorials” in any sense, because most of what I post online is just me dicking around and having fun, so I don’t want to be super serious. But, I also like showing my process just so if anyone out there is maybe interested in doing something similar, well then they have some ideas for where to start.

Anyways, if you guys want to read my first couple scenes for my Shazam story Shazam:City of Brotherly Love I’m going to link it here.

It’s still a work in progress, and if I end up doing any edits I’m just going to make them to the the post itself. Just because it’s not really worth it to me, posting almost identical chapters/scenes over, and over again lol.

Okiii byyeee!! I hope you enjoyed!! ~✨

#dc comics #dc universe #dceu #dc fanart #dcu #dca fandom #captain marvel dc #shazam #shazam 2019 #digital art #digital illustration #shazam:cobl #captain marvel #fawcett comics

[despair-to-future-arcs]

This is the shit about wealthy people who think they're entitled to everything, they took the spots of people who actually deserved to have an ultimate title solely because they had money to spare! We've seen just how poor some of the ultimates can be, can you imagine how many people in similar situations only struggled more because some rich asshole took their place in an institution that could have jumpstarted a big career for them?

Wh-What the actual hell! This... That Emina, so... so she was never suppose to attend?!

...

...

So... it seems that even after all this time, they still accepted bribes despite everything?

Disgusting is what it is...

Kyoko... get the laptop, I'm going to talk with her...

You want to talk to Junko?

Of course I do, I need answers right this instant about this - if all this is true!

Very well, hold a moment... *Kyoko leaves the office*

...

...

...

*Half an hour later, Kyoko comes back with the laptop and takes out the USB*

I uploaded all the files so Junko should answer our questions...

Good, now we can finally figure this out...

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

...

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

So... Junko, seeing as now have all the files regarding the bank information, you can tell us about this?

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

I see... so your curious about the bank information, right?

Well if you did then a congrats is in order, gotta say I'm impress you were able to get it and I suppose you lot just discover about the bribes, correct?

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

Of course we did, in fact my whole Division is looking through all the bank information and seems these bribes didn't start until 1970 and now it seems that my class had one of those bribes!

We also learn that this is where the Reserve Course was made too all because of Class 42 and how all of them were from bribes and the strike?

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

Ah yes, that too - honestly it seems the Steering Committee didn't want to lose money but didn't want to lose the scouts or the headmaster either.

Sooo they decided to create the Reserve Course, a total win-win for everyone; everyone was happy about it and peace restore!

Or maybe they weren't? There were those that were suppose to attend Hope's Peak Academy but never got to because some rich asshole wanted to pay for their brat or because they ask mommy and daddy dearest to be special or something.

How depressing is that; imagine being some salary man with a dead end job and had your dreams crush by Hope's Peak decades ago or some housewife they is stuck in some shitty marriage that's close to a divorce and you had these dreams where your talent mean something but it amounted to nothing.

Then decades later, you just discover thanks to an email sent to you that you were suppose to attend Hope's Peak Academy this whole time and the only reason you didn't is because someone stole it from you because of money and Hope's Peak Academy never told you a damn thing!

Now tell me, do you think any of them were happy about learning about this at all or do you think they stay silent?

#dr #danganronpa #dtfa #despair to future arc #fs:rw #future side: re write #dr3 #danganronpa 3 #dr:thh #danganronpa: trigger happy havoc #biju hakoda #masa esumi #koichi kizakura #kazuo tengan #byakuya togami #kyoko kirigiri #junko enoshima #anonymous #fs ep 6