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#i read all the tags maybe i should make a compilation of all the weird fuckin cat references bc I LOVE IT dsfgdshgfs
euijin · 3 months
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every month of 2023!
got tagged by @strayklds to do the classic yearly wrap up of my most popular and/or favorite things i made this year and it's always fun so i will do both 💓 plus some commentary because i can't shut up. i'm going to do it on this acc instead of yangjeongin so i can tag my non-skz cc friends properly, but i'll include stuff from across all blogs 🥳
i'm not sure who got tagged to do this already and who didn't so i will just tag some pals/favorite ccs and anyone that sees this should feel free to do it and say i tagged them if u would like!
@foxinys @seo-changbinnies @miyawaki @wahgifs @twoce @dinoboos @agibbangs @xiaojuun @exocean @hyunsung @huiracha @seungs
putting everything under the cut let's go
JANUARY popular: slutty hyunchan. i get it. also didn't realize this got That many notes asdlfkasjdlgk favorite: 2022 mbc gayo hyunjin. i just thought my coloring was neat for this. first set of the year also!
FEBRUARY popular: wolfgang ending fairies. these are ugly idk what y'all were on about but okay it do just be like that sometimes favorite: yellow wood era hyunjin bday countdown set. this was in the top 3 of my fav sets from this countdown in general
MARCH popular: hyunjin's 2023 bday set. thank god. looking back at this is making me emotional actually just kidding it was this one. boooooo fine he's cute i get it. favorite: i had a ton of countdown sets this month and i liked a lot of them but in retrospect i think my fav is the christmas evel era one. shoutout to oddinary and in life too.
APRIL popular: this random hyunin set for some reason. ok favorite: dfesta the movie 12 set i guess. these were good hyunjins and april was a flop month for me lowkey
MAY popular: hyunjin just standing there at the one versace event. i still hate y'all for this favorite: i think the hyunjin maniac tour mini vlog actually. kinda surprising myself with this one but i just think it's very cute. makes me happie. maybe this one tho. idk. i like the coloring on these too. whatever! this month was kinda mid no standouts to me
JUNE popular: hyunjin doing That move in s-class. so true favorite: the introducing skz gifset of the era. not my best of these but still my fav this month
JULY popular: TAEMIN AND HYUNJIN DESERVEEEE favorite: maybe taemin and hyunjin as well bc it changed my life but hyunjin's cardboard cutout of chan is also a fav because it makes me laugh every time
AUGUST popular: hyunjin at kcon la. i get this too favorite: hyunin squish compilation. very important 2 me. but a rare main blog contribution, i love this eunbi set i made.
SEPTEMBER popular: we had multiple sets do numbers this month actually but precious nacific hyunjin wins somehow. i made this set so randomly but it be like that sometimes (2) favorite: 230908 hyunjin not even because i like the set that much but just because it's a hyunjin of all time and he deserves recognition
OCTOBER popular: angel rockstar trailer hyunjin. yeah favorite: i don't know guys. everything i made this month was so mid. nothing notable at all. so i'll agree w the people on rockstar trailer hyunjin
NOVEMBER popular: dramatic hyunjin. i don't like my coloring for this but he was so funny so i can accept it favorite: i think 231118 music core hyunjin?? i like the nine set i made for this day a lot as well bc i'm just obsessed w this look but i think i like the stage gifs better
DECEMBER (so far) popular: dancing sweaty hyunjin. y'all are so weird but i'm the one who giffed it so, favorite: hmmm i think the hyunin set just because they r so important to me and i had fun giffing it
thank u to everyone that read all of this and that liked and supported my content this year 🫶 looking forward to what 2024 brings <3
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ladyluscinia · 6 months
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Oh so they're doubling down on saying that enjoying a character they don't like and being defensive (and, admittedly, a bit petty) in what's effectively a Flame War is a red flag for demonstrating cult-like fandom behavior, while clarifying that no one is actually calling Izzy fans a cult. Yet. Just saying we need to nip this in the bud, you know?
(This being... what exactly? Arguing about S2 predictions on tumblr? Vaguing people? - Hi! 🫡 Having "bad" takes that may or may not be problematic? Bitching about tagged character crit / hate about your fave, sometimes on the posts in question? Dedicating blogs to wank? Welcome to every-fandom-ever-including-BlackBonnet, I guess.)
Not a new accusation, but since people are once again making ominous statements about the "concerning" potential of a Snapewives situation... maybe we should pass around a reminder of who, exactly, they're referencing?
The Snapewives (Fanlore Link, Reddit Synopsis) were an extremely small niche forum in a really huge fandom that are pretty much only known for infamous levels of cringe that got them mocked relentlessly when discovered by Fan Wank. We are talking a tiny subsection of a subsection of a subsection of the massive HP fandom that got really earnest with their self-insert fanfic / roleplaying (and really didn't like the canon ending of Snape's arc). There's actually a really interesting paper on analyzing "Snapism" as a religion that alludes to their particular issues with Christian faith and erotic fantasies, and can kinda sketch in how they might have gotten to where they did. It's weird, no doubt, but honestly sounds pretty harmless?
Like, I'm not sure if we're using the BITE model that they would even count as a real cult - "Snape" seems very controlling and makes them do things (cook specific dinners, stop biting nails, go on diets, etc.) but, like, there's no cult leader being "Snape". These are all self-assigned "tasks" via "channeling" (which is again weird but not super unique - read the paper) and then the women themselves disagree on things and could just come across as a really intense roleplaying forum having disputes over ratings for self-insert fic, among other things.
The situation is different when there's an obvious cult leader - see the extensive documented history of Andy "thanfiction" compiled here. Trigger warnings for sexual assault, abuse, manipulation... all the stuff you expect from cults. And really getting into reading the supplementary info will take you many hours, btw.
Anyway... having looked extensively at our "fandom cult" examples, I don't think I'm remotely "concerned" that we're veering toward cult behavior. Or Snapewives behavior. The Izzy section of fandom - and, for that matter, the Izzy Anti section of fandom - haven't really done anything that hasn't been done in countless flame wars before? Like we as a collective haven't even gotten to the levels of targeted character hate that I can glimpse by searching "Teen Wolf" right now, and frankly OFMD still isn't big enough to dream of replicating 2010s fandom's biggest hits. There's some cutting edge weaponization of social justice that's a more modern development, but that's still fundamentally just fighting about the fiction. Even the one doxxing incident is unfortunately not unique.
Sheesh, "Izzy Canyon" isn't even demonstrating a unified meta or consistent S2 desires / shipping preferences / etc. We're just better at not being dicks about it by necessity?
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casperrscapes · 1 year
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kogagoshi fanfic rec list !!
+ some sort of sendai frogs fics!!!
hello hello hello! ヾ(•ω•`)o it’s me, casper, back with another fic rec list! kogagoshi is one of my all time favourite ships, so i’ve compiled some into this list!! there are, unfortunately, not many kogagoshi centric fics, so i thought this list might help my fellow kogagoshi shippers!!! feel free to add your own recs/recommend some to me !!!
As always, be careful, and make sure to check tags and warnings before reading !!!
there is no particular order to this! fics marked with an astric are my absolute favourite fics!!! fics marked with a frog emoji (🐸) include the sendai frogs!!!
Remember Our Youth by bumbl3b33 (NR) 4,729 words, 1/1, [Kogagoshi] --- Goshiki thought about their time together in high school for the next few days. 
He thought about their brushing hands and wide smiles. He thought about the feeling he got, something warm but aching, when he looked at Koganegawa Kanji. Most of all, though, he thought about what would have happened if he had done something, anything. What would’ve happened if he had leaned over and pressed their lips together? Maybe he could’ve done it when they played video games, sitting at the foot of Goshiki’s bed. Maybe he could’ve done it when they sat down in the grass after playing volleyball in the park. There were so many possibilities that he didn’t know the answer to. Although, he knew one thing for sure. Koganegawa had no business showing up and confusing Goshiki all over again.
this is so!! i love this!! just so adorable gahhhhh!!! they’re so cute :’). 
Just Breathe by crow_writing (G) 723 words, 1/1, [Kogagoshi] ---  Goshiki has an asthma attack and Kogane helps him through it. 
kogane best bf <3. very cute fic :). 
**complications of infatuation by ClementineKitten (NR) 14,409 words, 1/1, [Kogagoshi] ---  Goshiki has a problem, and his name is Koganegawa Kanji.
this fic!! is so good!! goshiki just running around trying to get love advice from his uncles senpais. all of the characterizations are so; *chefs kiss*. just a goofy funny fic, and i love it. first crush kogagoshi fics just hit the spot :’). 
It’s a Date by crow_writing (G) 1,385 words, 1/1, Kogagoshi ---  Goshiki and Kogane’s journey from texting buddies to boyfriends.
kogagoshi texting fic after the training camp or whatever it is. such, such a cute fic.
Wide Enough For Two | KogaGoshi by AnxiouslyShipping (G) 3,285 words, 1/1, [Kogagoshi] --- When a storm hits Miyagi, Goshiki is unfortunate enough to not have an umbrella. However, he is fortunate enough that Kogane finds him on his way home…
this is!! so adorable!! perfectly encompasses kogagoshi’s idiot energy; the odd umbrella backstory is so funny.
**E-Mail My Heart by asynchrony, girlkita (peerlessbellbird) (T) 4,754 words, 1/1, [Kogagoshi, Ushiten-ish, Aofuta-ish] --- Hey Koganegawa-san, what’s the deal with this picture? I’m not sure I understand what a sexy truck is, but I showed it to Tendou and he forwarded it to himself on my phone. He hasn’t stopped laughing about it for the last two hours either. Koganegawa and Goshiki exchange emails, and then much more.
GWAHHHH!!! they’re so cute!!! just two silly awkward teens with their first crushes. kogane is so cute :’). HE CALLS STUFFED ANIMALS “SOFTIES”, IT’S ADORABLE!!!
🐸 love isn't easy (but it sure is hard enough) by AP0LL0S (g) 7,210 words, 1/1, [kogagoshi] --- “I’ve known them for years, and I don’t remember a time when Kogane wasn’t head over heels for Goshiki.” “No way!” Kyoutani audibly gasps. or,, where koganegawa has a crush and his friends are done with him
SENDAI FROGS CONTENT>>>. and once again, we get kogagoshi being idiots (in love), and tsukishima and kyoutani try to get them together. (fair warning, you might not like the tsukishima and kyoutani characterisation in this, it depends!!) 
soldiered storms by AP0LL0S (g) 1,249 words, 1/1, [kogagoshi] ---  “I’m proud of you.” Goshiki spoke softly. “Why?” or,, where the sendai frogs lose an important match and koganegawa has to face his emotions
so cute :’). just goshiki being an amazing partner, and sad kogane. very good hurt/comfort. i normally see kogane comforting goshiki, so this was a nice change of pace, though i like both !!! 
**a snack by poutyongs (g) 2,575 words, 1/1, [kogagoshi] ---  Koganegawa uses a pickup line on Goshiki without much thought, except Goshiki is painfully oblivious to anything that is not volleyball related.
THIS. this is exactly how i imagine their dynamic. goshiki is so oblivious :’). kogane having fun with the pickup lines, as he should!! ‘shiki trying to figure out the pickup lines is hilarious. absolutely freaking adorable!!!
nickname by kogagoshi (g) 1,131 words, 1/1, [kogagoshi] ---  After training camp, Koganegawa exchanges emails with Goshiki (and gives him a nickname, too).
goshiki is flustered + panicking so hard, and i love him :’). i genuninely can’t tell if kogane is just dense, or intentionally teasing him. knowing him, it’s probably all of the above. just a cute, short little fic !!
There’s more to life than just volleyball, Tsutomu by WaterBear45 (t) 1,792 words, 1/1, [kogagoshi, semishira] --- “I guess now you know why I didn’t come to practice.” “Um… I do?” Goshiki squeaked. Semi frowned pulling down his hood and revealing a collection of matching red marks on his neck. “Haven’t you seen a hickey before?” “Oh!” Goshiki’s hands spasmed at his sides, balling into fists. “Sure! Lots of times!”
this fic is?? so weird?? and i don’t know how to feel about it?? not in a bad way!! it’s just- you need to read it to understand what i mean <(_ _)>. i do genuinely reccomend it, though!!
**kogagoshi fics <3 by london_artfully (t) 4,271 words, 3 works/?, [kogagoshi, ushiten, minor semishira] 
The Rather Unfortunate Circumstance of Goshiki Tsutomu by london_artfully (t) 2,919 words, 1/1, [kogagoshi, ushiten, minor semishira] ---  Shiratorizawa's third years know that Goshiki has a boyfriend... but Goshiki hasn't quite realized it himself. They feel the need to do something about this.
of angry birds and rainy days by london_artfully (g) 637 words, 1/1, [kogagoshi] ---  On a simple rainy day at Kogane's house after practice, Goshiki introduces his boyfriend to a certain mobile game.
breaking point by london_artfully (g) 715 words, 1/1, [kogagoshi] --- Goshiki wasn’t like Date Tech, an iron wall. He wasn’t unbreakable, and he broke far more often than one might think. Why did everything have to bother him so much?
i genuninely love this series so much, it is spectacular. all of the fics in it are amazing, and i sing nothing but praises. please, please, check these fics out. 
🐸 **Scaredy Frogs by copyrightings (t) 4,835 words, 1/1, [tsukiyama, kyouhaba, kogagoshi] ---  In a feeble attempt to find out which one is scarier, Koganegawa finds himself actually becoming good friends with the Sendai Frogs' most terrifying players, Tsukishima and Kyoutani. To be honest though, he doesn't even understand why people think they're scary in the first place until he meets their partners...
even though this isn’t strictly kogagoshi centric, i just HAD to include this. kogane POV fics are suprisingly rare?? so this was like a breath of fresh air. this fic is hilarious, and i adore it. the sendai frogs are all so whipped. please read this :’). 
**Ankle Weights by sophie_scribblz (g) 3,150 words, 1/1, [kogagoshi, ushiten] --- How big of a crush can you develop on someone in less than a week, anyway? Not that he has a crush on someone, no, that would be dumb. He barely knows the guy; there’s no way he has a crush on him. Yeah.
But then there’s the heart fluttering and there’s the weak knees and oh, for the first time he wants someone else’s mouth on his and it all seems so appealing all of the sudden— but that’s dumb, because he barely knows the guy.
He’s a little silly, Tsutomu supposes, the guy he likes. Tall, with about four times the amount of enthusiasm you’d think should be able to fit inside his body. Clumsy, but in a charming sort of puppy-dog way that makes you want to pat his head and tell him he did a good job. 
But then there’s his laugh, the way his eyes squeeze shut and this sound that embodies his joy bursts forth, bright and loud, just like everything else about him does. There’s his drive to be better, the fact that every time his upperclassmen told him he was hopeless, it only made him want to practice more. His generosity, his passion, his never ending kindness. And he gives the warmest hugs.
(Sure, his hair is a little silly but Tsutomu will let that one slide)
i don’t really know how to describe my love for this fic but,,, they are so sweet, and soft, and i love them (and this fic) so much. 
2019 Winter Exchange by snazzy_scarf (g) 10,492 words, 1/1, [kogagoshi]
Matchmaker, Matchmaker! by snazzy_scarf (g) 4,233 words, 1/1, [kogagoshi] --- It all started when both Lev and Hinata received two text messages around the same time. 8:18PM Kowenga: haha when did Goshiki get so cute lol 8:26PM Goshiiiiiikiki: hey so remember how i said liked guys? by guys i meant Koganegawa sjdhfbsjf
Say That You'll Hold Me Forever by snazzy_scarf (g) 6,259 words, 1/1, [kogagoshi] ---  Goshiki's had a crush on Koganegawa for some time now, and finds himself getting flustered at every little thing he says. Is he flirting with him, or is it just wishful thinking? Maybe a series of awkward conversations and loving gestures will help him find out.
this one’s a lot longer than all the other recs, but it’s real good!! the first one is an outsider pov from lev, and the second one is just a normal fic from goshiki pov. it’s just all very soft and silly. they’re both dense, and it’s quite cute :) 
annndddd, that’s a wrap!! i definitely missed a few that i didn’t bookmark (;′⌒`) please feel free to add your own recs, i’d love to see them!!! i also hope you liked the sendai frogs fics (‾◡◝). feel free to request/ask for other recs,,, i can’t promise i’ll have any, but i can try my best!! ( •̀ ω •́ )✧ hope this was enjoyable!!!
ps. should i tone down my use of emoticons?? 
pps. a list of fic rec lists i’ll probably post in the near future!! : yukeru (fruits basket), semishira (haikyuu), percy jackson/heroes of olympus, trials of apollo (sepreate cause why not!), maybe stars align, and if i’m feeling silly, i’ll do chad/ryan from high school musical!!! once again, feel free to request lists you’d like to see!! 
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hkblack · 2 years
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Identifying & Asking for the Type of Beta-Reading Your Story Needs
Hi folks! Had a bit of a break last week, but we’re back. This week we’re continuing with our theme of the different types of Beta-Reading. Last time we discussed the specific types of editing Beta-Readers. This time we’re talking about knowing what type of Editing Beta-Reader your story needs and how to ask for it.
Two disclaimers. One, a lot of this post is compiling threads from previous posts and putting it all together. If it sounds repetitive for those of you who have been reading along—sorry ‘bout it.
Two, this was hard for me to write! I kept asking myself “How do you know what kind of beta-reading do you need?” and I kept saying “Well you just read through the descriptions of the types and go ‘yeah that one, I want that one.’ Or even ‘all those, I want all those.’” And then I got stuck in the “identifying” part of the exercise and lost track of the “asking” part of the exercise. All that said, there’s several false starts in the doc where I draft these posts.
So how do you identify what you need? I mean, go back to the last post and read through the descriptions. If you find yourself going “yeah that one! I’d like that.” that’s what you need. If you find yourself going “all these” that’s also valid! If you start going “eh, I don’t know… maybe?” that’s when you should pause and consider what you want out of the beta-reading experience.
I’ve talked before about how in fanfiction spaces especially there are some people who don’t care for beta-readers at all. As in, they don’t use them because they don’t want to. This usually stems from ideas like “This is free fiction I’m publishing online, who cares if there’s a typo?” and it’s a completely valid train of thought! I have written many a tiny-fic where I’ve gone “oh honestly, I just needed this out of my brain, it doesn’t need to be perfect, just post it,” and haven’t gotten a beta-reader.
Like most things I think a desire for a beta-reader falls along a non-linear spectrum. There’s those who don’t care, there’s those who think their story is fine, but they would rather be saved from weird typos/SpAG errors. There’s those who want a little more help with making sure their story can be followed. There are folks who need a brainstorming buddy or a cheer-reader to help them keep going when they get stuck. There are all sorts of writers. So at the end of the day it’s up to you to ask yourself what you want out of the experience, and what you actually think is necessary and nice to have.
Once you’ve figured it out, you then go back to our how to ask guidelines remembering this:
For All Requests Fandom (if not obvious) Major Relationships Quick Summary What I need a Beta-Reader for
For Completed Pieces / Single Section Requests Rating Word Count Archive Warnings/ Content Warnings / Relevant Tags Deadline
For In Progress Pieces / Long Term Requests Expected Rating Current Word & Chapter Count AND Expected Chapter Count All Possible Archive Warnings/ Content Warnings / Relevant Tags Timeline / Deadline Expectations
Let’s pull out What I need a Beta-Reader for. When you’re filling this section out, the more details you can give, the better. Here’s some examples of what you might say, and what you’re actually asking for:
I’m currently in the early process of writing, and want a cheer-reader who can ask me questions about the big beats and help me figure the plot out. (Cheer-Reader and Plot Block beta)
I feel like I’ve been in the same scene forever, and I don’t know how to get out (Flow & Pacing Beta)
What comes next?!? How do I continue?! (Plot Block)
There is a complicated thing happening in my story, and I need to make sure it makes sense (Flow & Pacing)
My characters have run off and now I don’t know what they want me to do (Characterization)
Story is good, I want to post by [deadline] and just want to make sure everything makes sense and there’s no major errors (Bit of SpAG, Final Polish, and some light Flow & Pacing here)
Content warnings?! (Final Polish)
Just need a SpAG! (…SpAG!)
I’ve been staring at this for so long the words are running together (Final Polish if you’re ready to post otherwise, Flow & Pacing and light SpAG if you’re not).
“So should I just put: I need a Flow & Pacing beta reader?” you ask. I mean, it doesn’t hurt. A lot of times when I hear stories about horrible beta-reading experiences, it comes down to a miscommunication on what the writer wanted and what the beta-reader thought they wanted. I think a sentence like:
I’m looking for a Final Polish (SpAG please!) read from someone who is also comfortable with picking up on odd Characterization quirks, and Flow & Pacing issues, just to make sure I’m consistent throughout the story.
is a great way to ask. As is:
I have no idea what is happening in this story anymore. Send help. (and someone to help me get out of this Plot Block and regain my Flow)
However you ask, if there’s certain things you don’t want your reader to comment on, be up front with that.
This story is done. I only want SpAG. Is anyone available?
Or in the DMs, be clear:
I only want thoughts on these two chapters, please do not read anything past this big red line.
Or
I’m really not going back to rewrite anything unless the sentence sounds like I just stopped in the middle.
What I would make sure you avoid is: “I need a characterization beta reader, thank you, goodbye” Give details as to why you think you need something (“I need help with flow and pacing, it’s a fight scene and I don’t know how to fight.”) to help folks figure out if they can actually help you. But also, remember not everyone reads this blog (share with your friends!) and I’m making up words as I go along sometimes. So while these are pretty universal ideas, they may not be universal terms. So give the thing you are struggling with/the why you are looking for, and the term for further clarity. 
Remember that second disclaimer? I actually asked the lovely @ambrasuee to read over this before I posted it because sometimes you need a beta reader for your beta blog, I guess. And we know the rules for giving credit to our beta readers. So major props to Ambra for being the person who goes “get out of your head and post it. It’s good” when I need that kick. But we’re going to end here for today and next time we’re going to talk about how to respond to a call as a beta reader.
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non-un-topo · 3 years
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Every time someone tags my Nicky drawings with a variation of “MA! THERE’S A WEIRD FUCKIN CAT OUTSIDE” I loooooose it laughing just know that that is exactly the image I’m trying to convey
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onebizarrekai · 3 years
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v3′s art is comically terrible for a professionally distributed game in a series: a compilation
in this not-essay I will list all of the mistakes and problems I have spotted in v3′s art. don’t worry, it’s entirely for fun and I’m doing this on a whim, so please feel free to not take this seriously but also it’s hilarious and embarrassing how ridiculous this is like what happened did they speedrun the whole production or what
see, there are some things you can take as meta like “they made it bad on purpose to allude to the downfall of tv shows that have been on air for much too long” but I have a very strong feeling this is not the case due to the nature of some of these errors
disclaimer, the more I study this art, the more I fear that the artists were underpaid and underslept, so if this is in fact the case, I am so sorry to all of them but also I’m going to make fun of the art anyway
anyway let’s get started!
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if you study this image for longer than 5 seconds, you will see that kaede is the only one fully shaded and keebo is literally just his normal sprite pasted into the image. every other character is just an ordinary ref, hence most of them facing the exact same direction with neutral expressions on their faces. it looks like a bad edit, and is probably one of the worst pieces of art in the game. it kind of gets better from here on, but my roasting will not.
with that out of the way, here’s the problem that officially bothers me the most and clarifies my viewpoint of “this is not meta and an actual lack of company communication”
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this freaking cg, which seems normal at a glance, but some wiseass was like “oh, kaede is a girl, so obviously she’s going to be shorter than the Male Protagonist™” ah, that’s funny. because if you look at the character bios, kaede is, in fact, one inch taller than shuichi and not like 6 inches shorter as she is shown here.
also shuichi’s shoulder is disproportionate and horrendous and he looks vaguely like a jojo character, but I wasn’t even thinking about that until right now.
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thanks guys, 50% of the fandom who has never bothered to check these bios thinks that kaede is like 5′3 (did the developers really put so little thought into her to the point where drawing her correctly in the game didn’t even matter??)
also I would like to point out that, even though this isn’t related to the art itself, yes, a character kaede’s size being only 117 lbs is unfeasible, but this applies to literally every character in danganronpa ever and it’s not new news that it’s unrealistic
update: someone in the tags informed me that in versions of the game that use centimeters, like the japanese version, kaede is actually shorter than shuichi, which just adds another thing to the list of weird decisions the localization team made for no reason. that said, after confirming this, kaede is 167 cm in the original, while shuichi is 171 cm, which are approximately 5′6 and 5′7 respectively, but one inch is still nowhere near as drastic as it is depicted above. (in spite of this, I would rather depict kaede as slightly taller, so I’m probably going to keep doing that.)
the journey continues!
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bro if you want kaede to have shoulder length hair then stick to it to begin with
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you can pretend this is at an angle all you want but they definitely committed the shorter kaede sin a second time
wait a goddamn second.
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DO YOU SEE THIS
no………… it wasn’t kaede who shrank. it was shuichi who got taller
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speaking of which, can we talk about how shady the perspective is in this elevator pic? look at shuichi and kokichi in comparison to kaede. kokichi, who is canonically 7 inches (edit: or 5, if you’re loyal to the original) shorter than kaede, looks taller than kaede. he’s growing too. what steroids are these gays taking
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running into the room, electric boogaloo: I don’t think tsumugi is supposed to be the same height as kokichi
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gonta… gonta you’re lookin a bit like a jojo character there
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I love how kaito’s head looks kind of like it was pasted onto his body. why is he the same size as shuichi? shouldn’t he be high school bully size or something? his torso is teensy
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ah yes, white angie.
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I love this cg but why is shuichi’s right hand so much bigger than his left hand
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I also love how this cg looks like they literally took pictures of trees and pasted them into the background, especially on the left. the shadows are so weird, especially closer to the ceiling, it’s difficult for me to believe they didn’t do exactly that.
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return of Enlarged shuichi
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puberty update: kokichi is now taller than shuichi in spite of shuichi never missing leg day. what crimes will he commit
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I have to mention it, guys. this has to be one of the worst danganronpa cgs. kokichi’s facial proportions look atrocious. look at the way his face sticks out like his jaw is in the wrong place. his scarf is a pasted texture. that’s it. this moment was so iconic but the cg just looks so… so… off. like something is terribly wrong, but you can’t put your finger on it.
you know what? let’s get into that ‘pasted texture’ thing.
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let’s imagine you’re an artist working on a professional game. you’re assigned to draw cgs of kokichi ouma, who has a checkered scarf from hell. sure, it will be terrible to draw, but you only have to draw it once at a time! plus, perspective is pretty important, right? can you be bothered? nah, actually. let’s just copy paste a checkered pattern into the cg, because I’m sure nobody will notice. it’ll blend right in with the other cgs that someone actually put effort into drawing his scarf in, right?
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no. the answer is no and I very much noticed. this genuinely looks terrible and I would understand taking a shortcut like that in fanart or even an indie game but this is a full price pc and console distributed game
(an addition: look at kokichi’s TINY HANDS in that last one)
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meanwhile, they straight up forgot to color in kokichi’s scarf in this cg.
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dude. I forgot about whatever the hell this cg was. anyway look at keebo please just look at him
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lovin kaito’s baby arms
real talk, maybe you could argue that he’s missing muscle because he’s deathly sick, but most of his cgs don’t line up with this, and his arms just look disproportionate to his torso size (granted this is a consistent problem across all danganronpa games and a lot of characters have this weird problem, like hajime, but also kaito is bigger than hajime so I kind of have higher expectations of him) maybe it’s his stupid goatee and the way he reminds me of yasuhiro?? it creates this illusion that he’s older than he is and so I keep expecting him to look more like an adult
oh, also rantaro is missing some of his accessories in that video he made–you know the one–but I don’t wanna go back and screenshot it
also you may have noticed that I’m skipping all of the monokub cgs because I literally do not care about them and I’m not even bothering to check and see if they have artistic mistakes in them
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JIMMY NEUTRON???
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hey um uh kaito you seem to be missing your neck
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hey guys do you like my pregame fanart
so, that done, the sprites are also pretty terrible at times. they’re not as interesting to go through, however, and downloading the full sprite sets for every character and studying every single one of them will drive me insane, so I’ll just sum some of the ones I noticed up. I made things for kaede and shuichi before deciding I wasn’t going to get into it, so here are these.
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that said, other mistakes include kokichi missing his purple highlights in all of the sprites encompassing a specific pose, stray pixels all over the place on everyone, and everyone also has heavily inconsistent shading, but literally all I think about is how pregame shuichi is unshaded and two of kaede’s pregame sprites have glaring outfit change mistakes in them
anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my ridiculous ramble. in all seriousness, there’s this looming presence of some lack of communication in the development team, like with all the art and design inconsistencies, pieces and sprites that look rushed, stray pixels, and missing basic proportional stuff. these are the kinds of things that you supposedly have to pretty much have in the bag in order to get jobs in professional businesses, so it’s really weird to me that this game suffers from so many of these problems. it’s like they tried to make the art so much more crisp than the other games, but it fell on its face as they realized it was going to take longer to draw everything and they started to rush. it’s weird, because the coloring itself looks normal–it’s just sloppily drawn, and the proportions are a mess once put into the context of perspective. many of the cgs look like they were drawn by different people, and I’m still not over the fact that half of kokichi’s cgs have his scarf pasted in as a texture.
the moral of the story is that if you’re selling a game at full price that also happens to be in a series that has had 3 very good games in it already the stakes should probably be higher than this. v3 has been out for more than 3 years and it’s still $40 (did it cost more than that before? I sure hope not), and the overarching quality of the game is just not as high as the other games. I’m not saying that the other games don’t have any problems with their art at all, they’re just not as glaringly obvious and every artistic choice in those games feels intentional.
regardless, I had a blast roasting the art at 2am, so maybe you got a kick out of all this chaos.
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plaidbooks · 3 years
Text
Dark Secrets: New Beginnings
A/N: This is the first installment of the Vampire!Sonny x reader fic. This chapter is only setting the stage; next chapter will be more about the vampire aspect, I promise! This covers the Bookstore square in @adarafaelbarba​ moodboard bingo!
Tags: mentions of sex
Words: 2233
Taglist: @witches-unruly-heart​  @beccabarba​  @thatesqcrush​ @itsjustmyfantasyroom​ @permanentlydizzy​ @ben-c-group-therapy​  @infiniteoddball​ @glowingmess​ @whimsicallymad​ @lv7867​ @storiesofsvu​ @cycat4077​ @alwaysachorusgirl​  @glimmerglittergirl​ @joanofarkansass​ @caracalwithchips​ @berniesilvas​​  @reading--mermaid​  @averyhotchner​  @mrsrafaelbarba​ @detective-giggles​ @crowleysqueenofhell​ @dreamlover31​
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You spent hours on the computer compiling resources for your thesis. After years and years, you were finally getting your Ph. D in History…if you could just finish this damned thesis. List complete, you headed to the local bookstore; you always checked them first before going online, since they were cheaper.
You were intimately familiar with the bookstore; you went there often. And you had double and triple checked online that they had these books. You had a small basket, four books in it, while you looked for the fifth and final book you needed. But its spot on the shelf stood vacant; a perfect hole where it should be.
Shaking your head slightly, you started to search the shelves around it, in case someone didn’t put it back correctly. But you were coming up empty. And this was the book that you needed to buy here; the shop had it for $20, while online was a couple hundred.
“Looking for Making the Revolution: America, 1763-1791?” a voice asked from behind you.
You turned to find a pale, lanky, attractive man, his hair slicked back, his bright blue eyes watching you intently. He was sitting at a table, open book in his hand. Seeing the cover, you knew it was the book you needed.
“I am, yes. Were you intending to buy it?” you questioned, praying he said no.
The corner of his mouth twitched upwards. “I was debating it. Why, do you want it?”
“I do; I need it for my thesis. If you let me buy it, I promise to give it to you when I’m done, free of charge.” At this point, you were just desperate for that book.
His eyes seemed to bore into you as he thought about your proposal. Finally, he smiled, saying, “I think that’s a noble reason to buy this book. You’ve got yourself a deal.” He held the book out to you, and you gently took it from him.
“Thank you so, so much. You don’t know how much this helps me,” you said, placing the book in your basket.
He held a hand up. “No problem. There’s a lot of inaccuracies in that text, anyways.”
You blinked in surprise. “There are?”
“Oh yes. For one, it perpetuates the idea that Christopher Columbus came here to ‘escape tyranny’ in England, which is a load of crap, if I’m honest.”
You took a step closer to the strange man. “Do you have a source on that?”
He thought about it, chuckling to himself about something, before he answered. “Well, I am in the process of transcribing a manuscript from the man himself. But it hasn’t been published quite yet, so I doubt it’ll be of use to you for your thesis.”
“Wh—who are you?” you asked in awe.
He held a hand out for you to shake. “Dr. Dominick Carisi Jr., but you, my dear, may call me Sonny.”
Your eyes widened in shock, and you quickly shook his hand. “Dr. Carisi? Oh my god! I’ve been reading your work in class; I loved your thesis on slavery!” You had never seen a picture of him, had no idea he was so young; he was about your age. You had expected him to be an old man, at least in his 80s, not this attractive man in his early 40s at most.
He barked out a laugh. “You’ve really been reading my work? I’m flattered. I didn’t think anyone put stock in my texts.” While it was true he was a world renowned historian, his work was seen as highly controversial. He had a knack for citing manuscripts and journal entries, things that no one had discovered before he brought them to the limelight. But every authenticator had proven that the writings were from the time period. And that was enough for you.
“Please, sir, er, Doctor. Could I spend a day with you, pick your brain for my thesis? I’ll—I’ll buy the drinks and food, just…please?” you asked, suddenly embarrassed.
But Sonny’s smile grew. “I’d like that. But only if you call me Sonny. If you’re doing your thesis, then I assume you’re almost done with your doctorate?” You nodded, and he continued, “then in my eyes, we’re equals, and you don’t need to call me ‘Doctor’.”
Your heart beat a little faster when he called you equals. “Thank you so much Doc—Sonny. Does the coffeeshop next door work for you?”
“It does. And I’m free all week, whenever you need me.”
“How about tomorrow morning? I don’t have class until 3pm; I hope that’s enough time to chat.”
He gave you that heart melting smile once more. “Sounds good. See you tomorrow.” Then he took your hand and kissed it. As he walked away, your knees felt weak. You were infatuated within five minutes of talking to him.
 **********************
Sonny turned out to be an incredible source of information. Plus, he brought books that he thought would help you, letting you borrow what you needed. And, like yesterday, you found yourself completely enamored with him. He didn’t have a ring on, so you assumed him unmarried, but you didn’t know how to bring it up without being weird. Sure, you were close in age, but he was done with school, became a published historian, while you were still finishing up college. But he never talked down to you; on the contrary, he seemed highly interested in what you had to say.
Like before, you had been nervous—star-struck, really—when you met up with him. But as the hours ticked by, you found yourself more and more comfortable with him. He was highly intelligent, especially about history. You had found it hard to find someone who was as interested in history as you were, without sounding like a pretentious asshole. But Sonny checked all those boxes for you. You were just unsure if he felt the same.
“When is your thesis due? I feel like it’s still early in the academic year,” he asked.
You cleared your throat. “It is; I still have months and months to work on it. It’s due next year, but I want it to be perfect, you know?”
“I do, I do,” he agreed, nodding. “I hope you’re taking some time off, though, as well. Don’t let this paper take up your whole life; you should be out, appreciating everything this life has to give you. Don’t get stuck in the past.”
You looked at the table, letting his words soak in. It was like he had looked right through you; for the past month or so, you’ve been deep in your studies. You had friends, sure, but you hardly saw them. And you’d given up on dating until after you finished college, anyways. But maybe Sonny was on to something. You should seize the day, capture every moment in memories.
“Would you like to get dinner with me, Sonny?” you asked, trying to sound as confident as possible.
It was his turn to look surprised. “Oh, uh…sorry, you caught me off guard. In all my years, no one has ever asked me out; it’s usually the other way around.”
You chuckled. “You’re not much older than me,” you joked, and he smiled. “Maybe it’s time for something new. For both of us…that is, if you want?”
“I’d love to go to dinner with you,” he said, and your heart soared.
When it was getting close to 3, you bade him goodbye, and he told you he would be eagerly awaiting your dinner date. You felt your face heat at the words, and you swore your face never cooled off for the rest of the day.
*********************
That date with Doctor Carisi turned out to be the best decision of your life. You both felt the spark between you, and you said yes to a second date before he even finished asking. Now, it’s been ten months of loving bliss between you. You completed your thesis, got your doctorate, and Sonny couldn’t be more proud of you. And you learned that while he was a historian, he was also a detective. He said he wanted to help people now, by giving them both access to history material, and by putting absolute monsters away.
But there were little things with him, quirks, really. Though you’ve been to his place, and he yours, he never made a move to get you into bed. Sure, you’ve kissed—and sometimes this escalated to a full-blown make out session—but he didn’t seem interested in sex.
He also didn’t seem interested in moving in together…or a future at all, really. Whenever you tried to bring it up, he would just nod along with you, agreeing to whatever you said and adding on a lot of “one day’s”.
He had no family for you to meet, and yours didn’t live close. You noticed he also didn’t eat or drink much; he loved to make you dinner, and he would say that he snacked while cooking. And then, about once a month, he’d leave for 3-4 days, claiming he wanted to be alone to work on the manuscript.
You gave him as much space as he asked for, and though you still loved him dearly, you were starting to wonder if there was something wrong with you…or if it was just something he was having issues with.
“Hey Sonny?” you asked one day while snuggling on the couch at your place. “Are we okay?”
He glanced down at you. “As far as I know, yes? Why, something on your mind?”
“Well…I was just thinking about how we’ve been together almost a year and we still haven’t moved in together,” you tried.
He looked to the ceiling as he thought. “Wow, I guess it really has been that long now, hasn’t it? I feel like I just met you yesterday.”
“So, are we not connecting on a deeper level, then?” You sat up, turning to look at him.
His bright blue eyes found yours, and his expression softened. “That’s not what I meant; I’m sorry it came out like that. Time just…it moves so quickly is all. Look, I love you, I just—I don’t think I’m quite ready to make that jump yet. I’m sorry; I know this must be frustrating, but I promise you one day, I’ll…I’ll be ready.”
You nodded. “I love you too, I just….”
“What is it? You can tell me—”
“Why won’t you sleep with me?” you asked softly. His eyes widened, and you quickly added, “are—are you ace? It’s fine if you are, I understand, but I just…I feel like it’s something wrong with me, and I—”
He cupped your face in his hands, looking deeply in your eyes. “No, it’s nothing wrong with you, I promise. I’m just…I’m not ready—”
“I have urges, Sonny. And I love you, want to wait for you. But it’s been almost a year. I—I don’t believe a healthy relationship is built on sex, but well, it’d be nice to have every once in a while….”
He sighed, releasing your face. “It’s not that I don’t want to, because I do. I just want to be absolutely sure I’m ready. Call it shyness, or embarrassment, whatever you want. But I want to make sure that—that you’re the one for me, first, okay?”
You opened your mouth to respond when his phone rang. He gave you an apologetic look before answering with his stiff, “Carisi.” He mostly listened, making little noises of affirmation, before hanging up.
“I’m so, so sorry, doll. But the department needs me. I swear we’ll talk about this once I’m home, okay?” he promised, getting to his feet.
He grabbed his jacket, heading for the front door. “Sonny wait,” you called, and he stopped, looking back at you. You hurried over to him, looking up into those beautiful blues. “Be careful.”
He smiled softly. “I will be; promise.” He gave you a kiss, and then he was gone.
 ********************
You didn’t hear from Sonny again until the next morning, when he showed up on your front door, breakfast in hand. He apologized for leaving you last night during that important talk, but you brushed it off, telling him it was fine.
“That’s not all I have to apologize for,” he said, looking anywhere but at you. “I’m…going undercover. I’ll be gone for three months.”
Your face fell, and you put your fingers under his chin, tilting his face until he looked at you. “Three months?” you breathed.
“I’m sorry; I tried to decline, but the Lieutenant gave her orders. I leave in an hour.”
“Three months…” you said again, worry blossoming in your chest. This was the longest he’d be gone since you started dating.
He nodded. “I’ll text or call when I can, but don’t expect it; it may be too dangerous.”
You’d heard enough; you lifted onto your tiptoes, kissing him desperately. Your hands went to his hair, and you pulled him close, all your fear and trepidation in the kiss. He froze for only a moment before he was kissing you back, hands on your hips. He clutched you tightly enough that you gasped in pain, and he pulled away, releasing you.
“I’m sorry. I love you,” he muttered before turning to leave, but you had a suspicion that he wasn’t apologizing for leaving.
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simtanico · 3 years
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Hi! I don't know if this is an annoying/difficult question, sorry if it is, but do you have any advice at all for modelling sims based off real people? Your sims are SO crazy good. When I try to make them they end up looking... eh... Vaguely like the person? But there's a huge gap between that and some kind of 'spark' some simmers seem to manage to capture.
Hello! Definitely not annoying. Difficult, as in how difficult it is to answer? Maybe. I'm gonna go off on a couple of tangents. But I'm gonna try my best to explain the process. Which isn't really much of one sorry.
There's a handful of tutorials and tips out there regarding reference photos and like... proportions and all that so I won't cover that.
I use that as a general guide of course, but mostly I just save some photos of the person at various angles and focus on one feature or two at a time. Literally going back and forth between reference photo and my game. I think if you try to get everything at the same time, it really makes it easy to get frustrated with whatever your sim looks like at the moment. Making sims in general is a combination of a LOT of things depending on your style.
I can point out ALL the flaws with my sims based on real people. In my experience, it’s about getting the defining features of a person close enough to the real thing so that it resembles them. I don't think you need a complete copy to get the point across, however i do think some people and features are harder to emulate than others. I've been working on some sims for YEARS, and they still don't work out lol
and take a look at this progression on my sim based on Z4ne H0ltz starting back in 2015!
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that first screenshot:
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Personally, I get a little lost if I work on a sim too much all at once. I find some time away makes me less tired and frustrated. Just pace yourself :)
Also if you need any help, shoot me a message here or on discord. I promise I don't judge or anything.. it's sims who cares lol
TO START...
I suggest starting with the head and its shape. Starting off with a game-generated sim, the first slider I get to is head width. It's usually too dang wide for my tastes. And then adjusting the general position of the the features. You can always change things later, so you don't have to know exactly what you're going to do, but as I've mentioned before, sculpting sims up in CAS is just practice with sliders! Also in the long run, you may want to use Pu+Chi House's Smooth Face Normals slider! I attempt to explain and show what it does here. I've uploaded the slider here: https://simfileshare.net/download/984204/
This is gonna be a doozy sorry in advance if the read more doesn't work
SLIDERS SLIDERS SLIDERS
Big sliders like Pu+Chi House’s face shape sliders dramatically change the face shape, and it could save you a lot of time! I highly suggest using these to get rid of the weird large jaw sims can get.
Play with different sliders and how they interact with one another! Example: jaw width and Cheek Fullness affect the same area. if you need a wide jaw and don’t want cheek distortion, you can use cheek fullness, lower the jaw width slider and then edit the cheekbones from there
 Knowing what sliders move what and how it can work to your advantage is key! I cover this in my reply post about noses.
For visual reference:
I start out with my nose but I want the nostrils to sit further on the outside
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so i go in and use the nose width slider and raise it to widen the lower nose:
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Then lower the nostril scale slider
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Comparison:
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as you can see, i kind of achieved what I wanted, but also widened the nose tip too! Welp, that takes another slider I have, Tip Width. And I'll adjust that accordingly! It's really just a matter of what you're going for and what you're going to have to compensate for as a result!
That said, our community has made some awesome sliders that open up so many possibilities and even eliminate the need to do that multi-slider tango. I wouldn't even know where to begin (wish I wanted to make videos because I could talk for an hour about sliders)
For example @pitheinfinite made sliders that can make sims look better and more realistic, I'm jealous at what they've achieved!
They have their Inner Corner to Nose slider that moves an area of the sim's face hat make eyebags and the shadows and lines appear farther out from the inner eye. It saves you from having to use cheek sliders to mimic the effect and thus ruining the face shape you have going
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It's truly an INDISPENSABLE slider. One of many!
Since I make sliders, I usually just make some to specifically fix whatever issue I'm having. Granted they're made with general function in mind, which makes my cheater-y way of making things happen more useful in the future. I have about 50 experimental unfinished sliders in my game and can tell you that all my current sims use them for some reason or other. So I'm not working with nothing, I guess?
EYE SPY 👁
The best way to really get nice accurate looking sims is the eyes.
Pay attention to the slant of the eye, the shape and position of the upper and lower eyelids. you can use the game’s Eyelid Height slider, and AWT’s Eyelid width and height sliders (and many more)
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and especially where the iris (green) sits relative to the eyelid. getting that shape and eyeball positioned correctly really makes a HUGE difference
I do suggest Bloom’s Eye slider (left and right) that rotate the eyes left and right. That along with their Lazy eye sliders can give your sims a less symmetric face and position the eyes to be FAR more accurate and realistic than the default.
I also recommend their vertical sliders (Eye lift or drop) to help with eye positioning.
I can't stress the importance of the right contacts or eyes for your sims. Of course it all depends on how you make your sims's eyes and all that. Take the last sim i posted about. It took forever and a half to find the right contacts that didn't need severe or intense editing to capture the same vibe the person he's based on. The problem is pretty persistent for me, and I am just speaking for myself when I say this is necessary. Iris size, shading, recolorability, detail, catch lights, and pupil position are things to consider for your play style and preferences.
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In addition to seeing what eyes will do the trick, I do edit the catch lights in the screenshots to give the eyes a different emotion or look. (I use defaults that get rid of the game-generated catch lights, and supernatural eye glow.) It's nice when that's all it is and I don't have to go in and photoshop things in and out to make them look human lmao
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Perfect, schmerfect
And just know that as long as you have the same vibe or look going on it doesn't need to be perfect! Things will evolve over time, and you can change and perfect things as you go along, but close is better than trying to achieve an exact replica. We are working with the limitations of sliders and the optimized meshes they work on! So yeah there might be jagged bits or the profile might not exactly match and some things might not be accurate, but that's okay! Considering what sims look like at their default, you should be proud! I use the same mf eyebrows on all my sims basically and I tell myself they're just placeholders (yeah, right), but I manage to make them work with what I have!
Sliders, Makeup, and Skins, oh my!
a good base skin is critical, but not the end of the world if you pick the wrong one. They determine kind of definition and types of features highlighted on a sim 100000% and you might lose a feature you like or dislike when you change them! Feel free to switch up between skins you have to find the best fit.
Makeup can be a game-changer though!!! Any details you can add and help make your sim look the most like the person you're basing them off can go MILES.
In some cases, I've actually gotten really interesting results trying to get my sculpt as close as possible to real life references so the makeup makes a difference but don't define the features by themselves. Still, though, I utilize makeup up a LOT. [remember that if you use Nraas, you can layer makeup. Right-clicking makeup will also remove it if it's applied :)]
Here's the last sim i posted about when removing makeup:
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no nosemasks really replicates the face-claim's nose (too shiny at the lower part) but it'll do 🤷‍♀️
Freckles, eyebags, highlighters, face shadows, pores, nosemasks, etc are all great!!
The way you move your sliders WILL effect how these look, so don't rely on makeup that adds super-specific detail or goes over an area you know is a jumbled mess because of sliders!
I do have a mess of recommendations and wcifs for skins and makeup. replies tag | wcif tag
[also I love compiling wcif cc lists for my sims it's great]
Finally, I appreciate your comment about my sims, mainly because I know they're not ever really exact copies or as close as I want to be to their real life counterparts, so thanks!! I've seen fellow simmers get really good results without messing as much as I do and I love when people can make really good maxis match likenesses because it's just so damn cool! It's truly a talent. I'm not one of those lucky few, but I like to try my way at it anyway. After what feels like some good progress I'll post a pic here. Even after doing this forever I don't feel like I'm an expert or can get good results in a shorter amount of time, but it's just fun to see the progression (or regression) of how my sims look.
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amphibious-entity · 3 years
Text
TMBS Book 1 Brain Dump
~An Embarrassingly Long Post~
I don’t know why I’m writing this or why I’m so determined to do it. Maybe to finally assume my true form and become a mega dork on main, or maybe just for fun!
This is basically a compilation of all the main points running through my head after reading The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007) for the first time. Rather than posting a ton and spamming the tag, everything’s here in one neat package! (hopefully this gets it all out of my system rip)
Contents:
The Book Itself
The Book Itself, for real this time
The Characters
A Funny Parallel
The S.Q. Section
Lines & Scenes I Liked
Spoilers abound!
The Book Itself
Upon acquiring the first three books (don’t judge me pls), I was surprised at just how long they are. Like, they’re still pretty light being paperbacks and all, but these books are hefty lads.
The first book has this Disney+ Original Series circle thing printed on it, which is kind of unfortunate. Regardless, I love the cover illustration and yellow is actually my favorite color :D It made me weirdly quite happy whenever I saw the book lying around in my room
Also, it’s really cute how there’s a letter from Mr. Benedict at the end! (It only reveals that you can find out his first name if you “know the code”, meaning the bit of Morse printed below the summary on the back.) Shock and horror, though, as I realized I’m starting to recognize some of the letters
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The Book Itself, for real this time
It’s wonderful how the tone of the book really shone through to the show adaptation. Something about the deliberateness of the aesthetic, from the set designs to the fashion to scene compositions, that really sells that particular style— like it’s very clear that this story is being told to us, rather than one we’re seeing unfold, if that makes sense.
Where that narration style stood out to me the most was the first chapter. We are told (rather than shown) how Reynie gets himself to the point of the second test, and there’s this whole twisty time maneuver for that whole sequence of events that’s really interesting
A super secret fun fact about me is that I wanted to be a writer when I was younger! So this particular balance of show vs. tell is really neat, since it runs counter to my own tendencies. The sheer amount of commas in every sentence is also kind of comforting, since Ahah, I Do That in those few serious-ish attempts at writing lol
Overall this book’s style reminds me a lot of Roald Dahl’s books, which are very nostalgic for me :D The whole “kids are more competent than adults” angle helps a lot too haha
The Characters
Oh boy here’s where I get a little bit critical! Overall I did really like this book!! it’s just that that expresses itself in all this weird “”analysis”” lol
Reynie - much better in the books than in the show
It’s sort of a lukewarm take but I feel like show!Reynie is kind of boring? He doesn’t have a lot going on flaw-wise, and obviously since he’s the protagonist he can’t have too many weird traits or else the kids watching can’t project themselves onto him as easily
(I call it the difference between an aspirational protagonist and a vessel protagonist. Going off of the Roald Dahl vibes, think Matilda vs Charlie. show!Reynie is more of a Charlie)
Thus when we get to see him really struggle with the Whisperer and doubt himself it gives him a lot more dimension, at least in my opinion
It is a federal crime that the white knight scenes were not adapted into the show
Sticky - my son
I’ve long held to no one besides myself and my long suffering sister that Sticky is The Best Member of the Society
He happened to hit a lot of the Bingo squares of Stuff I Like In Characters: glasses, anxious, nice :), kind of a coward but ultimately is there for his friends, etc
For some reason I don’t talk about him nearly as much as you-know-who, but I love him just as dearly
Kate & Constance - I don’t have much to say
Kate is really interesting in this book! I like how we get to see more of her depths, in particular that one passage about her belief that she is invincible being the only thing that keeps her from falling apart? :c
Also her constant fidgeting is relatable lol
Constance is somehow a lot more tolerable in the book. I think I’m just one of those people with no patience for small children, unfortunately lol
(Some of) The Adults
It’s interesting that they had such an offscreen presence for most of the book. Giving them more time was probably one of the stronger changes of the show
However if that decision was made at the expense of the white knight scenes I think the choice should have been clear
I like the way Rhonda and Number Two are written
Milligan always on sad boy hours 😔✊
The “mill again” passage is touching but kind of messes up the pacing of the getaway, at least for me. Maybe I should read it again to make sure I didn’t miss something
Miss Perumal is much better in the show. We see so little of her in the book she doesn’t function well as an emotional anchor for Reynie, imo
The Institute Gang
Jackson and Jillson serve their purpose well, and Martina was surprising to say the least. I like the direction they took her in the show! I can’t imagine how funny it must have been to watch the tetherball subplot come out of nowhere lolol
These sections were written out of sequence, so random tidbit I couldn’t fit in The S.Q. Section: I like how he stumbles over his words. relatable
Mr. Curtain
While I think I know why they decided to not give Curtain the wheelchair in the show, we were totally robbed of Actor Tony Hale’s performance for the reveal during the final confrontation
Speaking of the wheelchair, it’s such a powerful symbol of his need for control or rather, his fear of losing it
The Contrast between him and Mr. Benedict. This point is expanded on in A Funny Parallel
Mr. Benedict
Oh boy, Mr. Benedict… How do I say this
I find it hard to trust Mr. Benedict, unfortunately
I mean to say, I do in the sense that I know he would never hurt the kids, thanks to knowing that a) this is a children’s book series and b) the meta (tumblr) states that he is really nice and lovable and stuff, but seriously. Why do the kids trust him at first?? I probably missed something somewhere
I like to think I’m an optimistic person, but unfortunately I’m also super paranoid. The premise of “a bunch of vulnerable orphans team up with a strange old man” is just so odd to me I don’t know how to explain it
I don’t know!!! I really want to trust Mr. Benedict
One of the strengths of the show is that we get to see him more often, and thus he gets to acknowledge more often that the plan is weird and that he feels really badly for putting the kids in danger and that he’s trustworthy and genuine
But his lack of presence for most of the book just makes him into something of a specter, invisible and unknowable, speaking only in riddles from across the bay
Which is why the white knight scene is so important!! I loved that scene ;-;
Because here’s an actual emotional connection! We can actually see it happening, rather than only being told that it exists
Reynie asking for advice and receiving encouragement, in words that demonstrate that Mr. Benedict actually cares about him and worries about him and agghh
It is a federal crime that the white knight scenes were not adapted into the show
But overall this whole issue didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the book at all! It’s just ->
A Funny Parallel
Okay, ready for my biggest brain, hottest take ever??
Mr. Benedict and Mr. Curtain…. are… the same
I mean obviously not entirely, given that one is benevolent and kind and the other is… Mr. Curtain
But seriously. Genius old man seeks out children (mainly orphans) to enact a plan. Said children often end up incredibly devoted to his cause and deeply admire him this is a little flimsy
Undoubtedly that’s intentional and is supposed to show the difference between them, like some kind of cautionary tale? “Let yourself be vulnerable and let others help you, lest you turn eeeeviiillll”
I guess that’s where the aforementioned epic contrast comes in. You get Mr. Curtain, strapped into his wheelchair and hiding behind those mirrored sunglasses, terrified (but unwilling to admit it) of ever showing the tiniest hint of vulnerability, vs. Mr. Benedict, who can let himself fall knowing that someone will catch him :’)
Anyhow I have nothing against the parallels, I just think it’s funny
The S.Q. Section
The S.Q. Quarantine Thread so it doesn’t leak out everywhere else <3
I’d like to meet the emo angstlord genius who read this book and decided to make SQ into Dr. Curtain’s son. What in the world
Okay I should probably preface this by saying that I absolutely adore both book!S.Q. and show!SQ with all my heart. Somehow, despite being a completely different character in both mediums, he has managed to be one of the best characters in either and certainly one of my favorites (besides Sticky of course) in the entire franchise, despite the fact that I’ve only read the first book/watched the show so far. I am confident in this statement.
But seriously! How?? Why?? I could probably write a whole other essay about why show!SQ is such an interesting character, and the change works so incredibly well. I’m just. Baffled
Okay, focus. book!S.Q. is such a sweetheart, oh my goodness. Like, 100% one of the most endearing characters in the book. Poor guy. I don’t even know where to start!!
He just seems to be a genuinely good guy at heart, despite being technically one of the bad guys. He’s genuinely happy for Reynie and Sticky when they became Messengers and helped Kate when she “fell” and was concerned about Constance when she looked sick and how he was in that meeting with Mr. Curtain and Martina?!!? aaahhhhghgh ;-; he just wants people to be happy TT-TT
Comparing him against literally every character at the Institute is probably what makes him so endearing tbh. When everyone else is so awful to the kids, it really makes him stand out. Like a cheerful little nightlight in the worst, most humid and rank bathroom you’ve ever been in
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It’s kind of pointless to theorize about a book series that’s already concluded (I think?) but. Is the implication of S.Q.’s forgetfulness supposed to be that Mr. Curtain used him in brainsweeping experiments somehow? The timeline probably definitely absolutely doesn’t line up but like. How did he get to being a Messenger being the way he is now, given how cutthroat the process is? And then of course Mr. Curtain keeps him around as an Executive because he’s fun to mess with and presumably his loyalty. I’m very curious as to how their relationship develops in the other books, if at all. Those are probably where the seeds of the “let’s make them family” logic were planted
But wouldn’t it be hilarious if the reason we don’t know what “S.Q.” stands for in the books is that he just. Forgot
Another thing that occurred to me. Given that he and the other Executives were Messengers at some point, what were their worst fears? What is S.Q.’s worst fear?? Inquiring minds need to know
One last horrible little anecdote: I was thinking about book!S.Q. while eating breakfast, as one does, and suddenly it hit me.
I want to believe The Author Trenton Lee Stewart had the name for a character, S.Q. Pedalian, and was like, “Hm! What sort of quirky trait should this young fellow have?” Because, of course, in this style of fiction every character has to have at least one cartoonish or otherwise distinguishing trait to stand out in the minds of children. (For instance, Kate has her bucket, Sticky has his glasses, Constance is angry, and Reynie is Emmett from the Lego Movie)
Anyhow, he looks around the room, searching for inspiration. Suddenly he comes across a jumbo box of plastic wrap. Completely innocuous in design, save for one line of text. 300 SQ FT.
“…large… S.Q. …feet? THAT’S IT!” i’m sorry
Lines & Scenes I Liked
In no particular order!
Sticky quotes Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Evil combination aerobics/square dancing in the gym with the Executives
Everyone being happy at the end :’)
Everyone partying after Sticky reunites with his parents, and later finding Mr. Benedict asleep at his desk from the moment they shook hands :’’)
Literally any scene with Sticky in it
Any time Kate says “you boys” or “gosh”
[“Um, sir?” S.Q. said timidly, raising his hand. “A thought just occurred to me.” / Mr. Curtain raised his eyebrows. “That’s remarkable, S.Q. What is it?”] clown prince of my heart </3
S.Q.’s determined monologue about searching for clues after he bungled up the first time
Literally any scene with S.Q. in it (please refer to The S.Q. Section)
Reynie trying to resist the Whisperer.
[Let us begin. / First let me polish my spectacles, Reynie thought. / Let us begin. / Not without my bucket, Reynie insisted. He heard Mr. Curtain muttering behind him. / Let us begin, let us begin, let us begin. / Rules and schools are tools for fools, Reynie thought.]
NO MORE HURTIN’ WITH CURTAIN
Milligan showing up on the island!!
Remember the white knight hhhhhh
“controle”
A Super Secret Bonus Section
I would be extremely surprised if anyone read through all the way down here lol. Regardless, here’s a little acknowledgements section :D not tagging anyone since I don’t want to bother all of these people
Special shoutout to tumblr blog stonetowns for unknowingly yet singlehandedly demolishing my reluctance to read the books by posting a ton of cute quotes. Thank you for your service o7
Thanks to the two OGs that liked the post I made right before this one, for being my unwitting enablers and for sticking around despite being a) technically an internet stranger (hello!) and b) someone I haven’t spoken to irl in literal years (hey!!)
Last but not least thankz 2 my sister for putting up with me ranting about the book when I first got it and for asking about “CQ” sometimes lol. (i desperately hope you’re not reading this orz)
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lovely-v · 3 years
Text
LOTR (films) Review
So I finally watched the LOTR films (20 years later). I’m super excited to review these because I read the books very recently so I feel at least a little prepared to voice some opinions. Overall I loved the films, here’s a very long (but by no means exhaustive) compilation of my thoughts, which are of course, totally subjective:
(Warning: a lot of me saying “well, actually, in the book...”)
THINGS I LIKED
- Casting! not much to say here, I thought the casting was great. One of my favorite actors that I didn’t think i’d have a huge opinion on was David Wenham as Faramir. I was kinda ambivalent on him when I saw pictures but i thought he did a great job. he showed his quality.
- Music. so much has been said about the films on the music front. I can’t offer too much original insight but when a bit of the Shire theme started to play as Frodo tries to make his way up Mount Doom I cried a little.
- Boromir and Aragorn. I liked the scene where they interact a little in Rivendell. I also like how Aragorn saves Boromir in the Moria battle and gives him this little nod of friendship. I think the films did a great job portraying the dynamic they have where Aragorn is clearly suspicious of Boromir’s motivations but grows to respect him to the point where he doesn’t even blame Boromir for being corrupted by the ring because he understands that, at heart, Boromir is a good person. 
- Sam and Frodo in Osgiliath. I expected to be kind of annoyed with the way this plot point played out (I knew ahead of time that it strayed from the book), but I actually liked it a lot. As I’ll say later, there’s some gripes I have with the way the films extremely play up the disagreements between Frodo and Sam, but I loved the scene where Frodo pulls the sword on Sam and then seems so defeated when he realizes what he’s done. I was pleasantly surprised by how emotional this scene made me. It’s admittedly A Lot, but it was done nicely, especially in conjunction with Sam’s “there’s good in this world” speech.
- Treatment of the ending. I almost think I should dislike the ending as it is in the movies, but my heart is soft and I like that they sugarcoated it a bit. I know the whole point of the Scouring of the Shire and Frodo’s depression conveys a lot about war and trauma and I think that is important, but after watching these things for twelve hours I just wanted Frodo & co. to be happy and I was kinda relieved that they cut the Scouring. Does that make me weak and perhaps bad at film analysis? yes. do I care? no. I was also very glad that the movies didn’t portray how depressed Sam was about losing Frodo in the end. Yes, he cries, but when he walks home to his family he seems happy and in the books that scene came off so much bleaker. I definitely liked the lighter tone.
THINGS I WAS NEUTRAL ON/DIDN’T LIKE
- Arwen. (Neutral) I don’t hate her, I don’t love her. I think the story she and Aragorn have is compelling and I 100% get why the filmmakers decided to add it to give her character more depth, but it felt misplaced at times. maybe it’s just because it was the only storyline I didn’t know in depth, but the scenes with the Arwen/Aragorn flashbacks felt a bit confusing and disorienting. Don’t have anything against Arwen as a character though, I think she’s pretty alright.
- Gimli. (Complicated thoughts) I want to start off by saying I don’t dislike Gimli. I like him a lot! I just think the movies did him a bit dirty. He had some good movie-exclusive moments, but I think his character really fell into this place of being the butt of too many jokes. Would have liked to see some more serious Gimli development, especially with his relationship to Legolas. Their friendship felt too much like subtext here, whereas it’s explored far more in the books.
- Two Towers Pacing. (Didn’t really like). The pacing of TTT was...weird. maybe I’m going into this with a closed mind because of the books, but it was odd to have the movie begin with Frodo and Sam and then have them only appear for a few rapid scenes after that. I think the fact that a WHOLE LOT of what happens to Frodo and Sam in TTT is moved to RotK is what makes it feel that way? In the books, Two Towers ends with Sam discovering that Frodo isn’t dead from Shelob’s sting, and I was surprised by how long it took the movies to get to that part. However, I will give the films a little leeway because I think they needed Frodo & Sam content for RotK, since most of what happens in that book is them walking through Mordor basically starving and dying. Doesn’t make for great cinema I guess, so they had to put the whole Shelob/Cirith Ungol saga into the final film. Still, I think there’s a weird lack of Frodo and Sam’s presence in TTT.
- The go home/missing bread arc. (Full of rage abt this one) yeah. so. my criticism of this is gonna sound pretty tired because people complain and complain about this part of RotK. but I’m gonna complain some more!! I don’t think the split between Frodo and Sam does anything for the plot. I really don’t. I guess it emphasizes the fact that Sam doesn’t understand how much Frodo is projecting onto Gollum, but it’s just. unnecessary angst? They had enough angst in the Osgiliath scene! Which I actually liked! And it simply doesn’t make a lot of sense for Frodo to suspect Sam of eating the bread when Sam had already offered Frodo his own food and made it clear that he would very much starve if it meant making sure Frodo could eat. But what I hate most about this scene is not that Frodo gets mad and tells Sam to go home. No. It’s that Sam actually... thinks about doing that? he actually? goes down the staircase? emotionally this is bad because Sam clearly cared enough about Frodo to follow him this far, to nearly drown for him, so why would he leave now. Practically this is bad because 1. how would Sam get out of Mordor alone and 2. where would he go. He turns around almost immediately, yes, but what was his plan. where was he going. why.
THINGS I LOVED
- For Frodo! This line, and every other shoutout to Frodo. In the books, they didn’t really actively talk about/worry about Frodo (and Sam) as much as they do in the movies. I like that they talk about Frodo more in the movies! I like that they’re thinking about him! I know it was implied that they were in the books, but I really like how it’s shown here. I think it gave a more complete picture of how much they all care about him on a personal level in addition to just needing him to succeed from a pragmatic standpoint. 
- Merry and Pippin! I feel like Merry and Pippin were so well rounded in the films. I’ve heard criticism about them being turned into comic relief characters (which they always were a little bit) but it honestly didn’t feel that way to me. They had a bit of a rough start because the films didn’t make their motives for going with Frodo as deep as the books did, but I think that by TTT they were absolutely amazing characters in every scene. In RotK their respective arcs hit really well and the scene where Pippin is singing to Denethor? *chef’s kiss* poetic. beautiful. sad. idk man I just feel like I have such a newfound appreciation for Merry and Pippin.
- Parallels! people have pointed out the parallel of Frodo and Sam’s hands before (drowning scene/mount doom scene) and I love how the movie did that. Just stunning. Also! The moving of the Smeagol & Deagol scene to RotK surprised me because in the books it was like,,,at the beginning of Fellowship, but I think the placement of it in the movies really helped emphasize the similarities between Smeagol & Deagol and Frodo & Sam (and how much Frodo fears this similarity.) There were a lot of other well done parallels between storylines and a few bits of dialogue that were repeated with great timing, but I can’t remember all of them at the moment.  
Edit: here’s one I remembered! when Frodo wakes up after being rescued and sees Gandalf, he says Gandalf’s name in a very similar tone to the one he used at the very beginning of Fellowship. It was a nice little subtle connection.
- I can’t carry it for you...alright this is self-indulgent. everyone knows I love this line. I’m just so glad it made it into the movie intact. Sean Astin’s delivery was amazing. I cheered. My mom cheered. It’s a raw line and it makes me feel secret emotions...like if shrimp colors were feelings. that line makes me feel shrimp feelings. idk i’m so tired i just watched twelve hours of movies this review is decreasing in quality by the minute but i’m about done for now anyway
Various silly afterthoughts
- I would have liked to see Sam kiss Frodo’s hands at least once. This happens 50 thousand times in the books, they could have given me one scene. one little extended edition scene. Please Peter Jackson I’m dyin’ out here
- They literally made Gollum so hateable. kinda the point yes, but I was so on board with Sam’s murderous rage. I know why Gollum’s a profoundly complex character, I know why Frodo pities him, I know why murder is bad, but I too would throw hands with that creature. also he literally body shamed Sam so much what was that skdjksdjksd. Sam is lovely. let him commit a small homicide. 
- the scene where merry and pippin drink the tall boy juice (as someone once referred to it in the tags of one of my posts)... not accurate to the books (since they don’t ever drink it with the end goal of getting tall) but so accurate to life. if I found some water that made me taller than my friends? let me at it
- Frodo panicking when he falls into the spider webs. so real bestie. i felt just as panicked watching that. i am terrified of spiders and Elijah Wood did an amazing job doing exactly what i’d do in the situation. yelping a lot and falling down.
- I feel like it’s never stated that Sam’s a gardener (or at least that he’s specifically Frodo’s gardener) until he tells Faramir he is. Did I miss this. Or do they really never say.  are you just meant to know. are you just meant to pick up gardener vibes from him.
*
This has been a very chaotic lotr movie review. Thanks for reading.
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margarethx · 3 years
Text
I have some slightly controversial take about Sam Wilson fandom here, so maybe don’t reblog this post... Comment if you want, but I really don’t want to start arguing with anyone. I just need to vent and will probably delete the whole rant later.
So...
I know that Sam’s fans complain a lot about the treatment he gets in the fandom... I still do that from time to time and I probably will continue doing it in the future. But I’m starting to feel very, very tired with the people who act like their love for Sam can only be expressed through:
1) criticizing other people’s content,
2) hatered/dislike for Bucky or Sambucky,
3) complaining about other people in the fandom.
It’s so weird. We criticize the people who make Bucky-centric content with barely any mention of Sam and tag it with his name, because it’s annoying, but at the same time there is quite a big number of fans, whose posts in Sam Wilson tag are basically:
“omg he never gets recognition”, “MCU fandom hates Sam”, “Everything is about Bucky, where is Sam?!” “some of you only like sam when he’s with bucky :/”
And... sure. There’s a lot of truth to these statements. But saying that over and over again won’t fix the problem, especially if you yourself don’t do ANYTHING to remedy the situation. You’re flooding the tag too... Just in a different way. A few months ago I had this habit that I liked to follow people who wrote posts like these. Because I had this assumption that: if you complain about Sam being treated badly you probably love him a lot, so we should get along. I love him too!
But I realized that a lot of those people literally complain for the sake of complaining and than don’t even try to post Sam-centric content on their own. Why not??? You don’t have to be an amazing creator to make a good post. It’s not just about realistic fanart and 30k words fanfic with a complicated plot. You might write some weird HCs about Sam instead. Or a joke. Incorrect quotes. Ideas for fics you’ll never finish, but might inspire other people. Doodles that took 2 minutes of drawing. Edited photos. Favourite screenshots. Prompts. Learn to make poor-quality gifs of Sam’s cool fightigh style. Write a short scene analysis. Or ask other people how they analyse some scenes to start a discussion. Link some edits from YouTube.
And if you cannot think of a single thing to make on your own? Well. You can always promote art made by other people. Go through the tag and reblog things you loved. Find a good blog and search throught their archives to find older content. You can compile a post with fic recommendations so other people read what you enjoyed and see how good the content about Sam might be. Or recommend your favourite creators in general. Send encouraging asks to artists who you love so they feel motivated.
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But these people do none of that. I can scroll throught their blog for 10 minutes and everything about Sam Wilson I see is complaining that people like Bucky more. Or that Sambucky is popular. (As if all the best Sambucky stories aren’t just fans expressing their love towards Sam through Bucky’s eyes...) I’m not trying to say that you have to be a creator to criticize the fandom, but it’s weird when you only yell at others for not posting enough about Sam when you didn’t post anything about him either unless it’s complaining. Kind of ironic...
Also! If you don’t promote other people’s content they get discoraged from posting. It’s a fact. I have probably over 80 different half-made and finished drawings with Sam Wilson on my tablet, but I have zero incentive to post any of them, because every attempt in the past ended with these posts getting 4 notes. Or 10 at best. So why bother? I can look at them alone. And I don’t remember these people who complained about the lack of Sam content supporting my Sam-centric art with nice comments.
You cannot expect the fandom to mass-produce content for you if you don’t encourage it. I got no feedback, so now I just sort of... write or draw for myself, because I enjoy it and have no incentive to publish any of that when no one’s interested. Instead I just make writing prompts or analysis of tfatws, because there’s a bigger chance I’ll have an interesting disussion with other fans in the comments or I’ll inspire other creators to make more art by posting that. I enjoy both of those things very much, but one evokes a reaction I want and the other just... doesn’t. (It’s not even about validation... even if it’s nice to get compliments. It’s just: “when other people are clearly not interested, why make the art public at all?”.)
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Like I said. I’m not going to call out any specific person here. But there were a few people who harshly criticized me in asks or in private messages for “pretending to love Sam” just because I like Sambucky too. But if you scroll through my blog you’ll find that at least 95% of the posts are about Sam. And if you scroll through theirs it’s 3 posts - all of them about fandom not loving Sam enough. (I just checked.)
But I guess I’m a “disgrace to the fandom”, because I acknowledge that Sam might have a love interest while you said you hate Bucky, so... Apparently your love for Sam Wilson is more real if you despise more popular characters he interacts with. ...Be honest with yourselves. Some of you just like to whine and complain, but prefer to disguise it behind love for Sam, so it sounds justified.
And yes. There should be more content that is only about Sam. Or about Sam’s non-romantic relationships. Sure. But if my two choices are: “get a Sambucky fic about Bucky loving Sam very much” or “get a post where someone cries about Sam not being loved enough for the 10th time”... then pardon me for preferring the first option.
If any of you spent half the energy you waste on complaining on making a single post about your supposed love for Sam the tag would be much more full of good content. But it seems like making actual content requires more effort and talent, so you just stay there whining that other people don’t provide you with what you want and demand. And give zero encouragement and promotion to those who do the work.
So continue doing that if you wish. But I won’t waste all my energy on making my weekly “this fandom fucking sucks” post. I prefer promoting cool art other users made (now or years ago) and creating my own posts that might not be always 100% about only Sam... but are still focused on him. Because I like this fictional little guy. I’m not going to let this weird purity tests ruin my enjoyment. If the pretty drawing of Sam has Bucky on the other side of the canvas I still have a cool drawing of Sam to admire. So it’s a win for me.
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[Reminder: please don’t reblog this. I really just need to vent. Comments are okay, I can discuss this. I just don’t want some peope to see that and go yell at me all over again. I was already harassed for allowing Bucky or Steve on my mostly Sam-Wilson-centric blog...]
[Also... if you think this is hypocritical of me to complain about complaining... Maybe. I don’t think it’s comparable here, but whatever.]
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awanderingdeal · 3 years
Text
Never too late - 4 - 5
A continuation of Leo and Regulus' attempts (antics) to give Regulus the childhood he never had.
CW: All content warnings relate to Part 5: piercings and food talk
Please message me if you feel I need to add any content warnings
Rating: T
Previous and future chapters can be found on my masterlist
Credit for the sweater universe and the characters within it go to @lumosinlove. What a hero.
4. Take photos! Candids, selfies and posed group shots. They’ll hold the best memories.
“Merde, what are you doing?” Logan asked, resting his head on Leo's shoulder as he peered at the laptop.
Leo grinned, tipping his head back slightly so he could press a kiss against Logan’s cheek, “I’m getting inspiration.”
“That cleared a grand total of nothing up,” Logan huffed, circling the sofa so that he could flop next to Leo. “Oh my God, no. I thought I had deleted everything from back then” he groaned, reaching to close the lid of the device.
Leo swatted his hand away with a scowl. “First of all, I am offended that you never told me that you used to have bangs,” he gestured to the image of a young Logan on the screen, laughter bubbling in chest. “Second, I think you may have caught most yours, but you failed to check your tagged photos.”
Logan sighed again, apparently resigning himself to the fact Leo was going to trawl through the photos no matter what. “Is there at least a reason that you are torturing me like this?” he asked, curling into Leo’s side.
“It started off as me finding inspiration for classic high school photos to take with Reg, but now I’m just looking at how adorable you were at 14.” Leo chuckled.
***
“I want to be on the top!” James yelled, earning a snigger from Finn.
“No, Logan needs to go on the top, he’s the smallest and I’m not breaking my back for you idiots,” Kasey said from where he was braced on all fours.
“He’s actually very heavy. Like a tiny ball of muscle,” Finn said. Logan seemed conflicted as to whether he should be thanking his boyfriend or reprimanding him, the confused frown making Leo smile, but he figured he should intervene before a full on argument broke out.
“Maybe we should ask Regulus where he wants to go? These are his photos after all,” Leo suggested, turning his gaze onto the man in question.
Regulus threw his hands up, shaking his head. “I was coerced into this madness,” he defended. “But if I must participate then I want to go on top. At least then I don’t get squashed when this goes wrong.”
“O, yee of little faith,” Thomas scoffed, making a dramatic show of stretching his limbs.
“I’m retiring after this season, I’m too old for this,” Dumo groaned as he joined Kasey on the floor.
“You say this every season,” Kuny laughed, taking the spot next to Pascal and nudging him in the shoulder.
“Alright, Cap. I think you better go on the base too,” Leo said, laughing at the scowl he earned. It appeared that Sirius had been trying to make himself blend into the cushions in the hopes he might get out of the photo, but Leo wasn’t about to let him off that easily. “For Reg?”
“Regulus doesn’t even…” Sirius began to argue, but he was interrupted by his brother’s low chuckle.
“I have suddenly changed my mind. Come on Sirius, don’t be a spoil sport,” Regulus teased.
Sirius opened his mouth to start a rebuttal, but all that came out was a resigned sigh, and the man heaved himself to his feet, getting a loud cheer from the rest of the team. Once he had taken his spot, the rest of the pyramid seemed to form easily. James, Remus, Leo, Logan and Finn all climbed on, until eventually it was Regulus’s turn. With a little help from Timmy and Olli, the man managed to take his place at the top of the pyramid.
“Okay, Sergei, take the photo,” Leo instructed, feeling parts of the pyramid begin to shake.
“Which button is -” Sergei asked, before a semblance of a smile crossed his face. “Oh, found it.” Just as the words left Sergei’s mouth, Leo found himself tumbling to the floor, several of his team mates on top of him, a chorus of grumbling in several different languages erupting as they clutched various body parts.
“If anybody has broken anything, I am not explaining this to Coach,” Sirius declared, from under James and Finn.
“Did you at least get the photo?” Dumo asked.
“No, we need to do again,” Sergei grinned, a groan reverberating around the room from the rest of the team.
***
Regulus wiped his hand across his cheek so subtly that he nearly missed it, but the redness in his eyes was obvious.
“Are you crying?” Leo asked quietly, feeling the muscles 0f his forehead tense into a concerned frown.
“I’m fine,” Regulus said, blinking rapidly, shutting the scrapbook perched on his lap with a little more force than necessary. Leo had spent hours compiling the photos taken over the last few months into it: the forming a pyramid, two dozen or so polaroids taken at various events, a fair few with peace signs; the transition of Regulus slowly becoming more comfortable with the action obvious with each one, another was a take on the classic shoe circle only with hockey skates. Somehow James had snuck several selfies of himself into the mix.
“No, Reggie, what’s the matter?” Leo pulled the book from Regulus’s hands and put it on the coffee table, turning so that he could face his friend more easily.
Regulus shrugged, playing with the sleeve of his shirt, a nervous habit Leo had picked up on over the past few months. “I...I just never really had any friends in high school. It’s kind of hard when you’re taught to see everybody as competition, you know? So, I don’t really have any photos that aren’t stuffy family portraits or media shots. I didn’t realise that bothered me until now.”
Leo bundled Regulus into a hug, his friend making a disgruntled sound as he found himself pressed against Leo’s chest. “Just accept it,” Leo huffed, wondering how he had managed to find himself saddled with so many emotionally constipated hockey (or ex-hockey) players.
5. Find your style - change your hair, get a new piercing, buy a new outfit. Go wild!
“Hey, Reg,” Finn waved, mumbling through a mouthful of cheese.
“Harzy! Do you know how much that cheese cost?” Logan scolded, his expression somewhat more horrified than Leo would deem reasonable, “Please respect it.”
Leo grabbed his jacket, patting the pocket to ensure his wallet was inside. He rarely used his physical cards anymore, but it gave him far too much anxiety to rely on just his phone. “We’re leaving now. Try not to kill each other while we’re gone. It would be tragic to lose both of my boyfriends in one day,” he said, dropping a kiss first on to Finn’s cheek and then Logan’s.
“Bye Reg,” Finn waved again.
***
“Thank you,” Leo smiled at the cashier as he took his purchases from them. He looked down, noting that between the two of them they had amassed nearly twenty bags. Leo wasn’t usually one to spend money frivolously, but he had found himself swept away by Reg’s enthusiasm. Apparently when he wasn’t being stuffed into tight button ups and tailored pants, Regulus really rather enjoyed fashion. Finn would have been proud of the multiple pairs of trainers they had acquired so far. Still, they probably had enough for today.
Before Leo had a chance to suggest a change of activities, Regulus beat him to it. “Do you want to get some food?” he asked, the grumble of Leo’s stomach answering the question with no need for any words. Regulus laughed, “I’ll take that as a yes. Are you good to get Thai?”
Somehow over the course of filling their stomachs with curry and Pad Thai, an innocent comment about how Regulus would look cute with a piercing resulted in them walking into the nearest studio that had decent reviews. Regulus had changed into one of his new outfits: a loose black and white striped shirt, a pair of black pants cuffed at the legs and chunky white sneakers because his old outfit was deemed unsuitable for getting a piercing in.
Leo had just finished up getting his lip done, pamphlet of aftercare instructions clutched in his hand, and was waiting for Regulus to come out of his room. The boy had refused to tell him what exactly he was going to get done, and the anticipation was killing him. A few minutes later, Regulus pushed out the door to the small room and Leo’s eye was immediately drawn to the light catching Regulus’ eyebrow.
“Oh my God!” Leo exclaimed, wincing as the movement sent a surge of pain through his lip. “You look so good,” he added, moving to inspect the barbell peeking through Regulus’ brow.
“Thanks,” Regulus blushed at the approval. “Yours is cool too. Logan and Finn are going to freak out.”
“They sure are,” Leo chuckled. “Alright, I’ll settle this and then I’ll drop you back home?”
***
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Regulus scowled, reading the instructions on the back of the box of dye for what Leo was sure was the fiftieth time.
“I told you, you haven’t been a teenager unless you have made some questionable fashion choices,” Leo countered. “Except I’m going to look amazing with blue hair so it’s not really questionable.”
“Well, it can’t be worse than this anyway, right?” Regulus grimaced, gesturing to his bleached blond hair.
“Noughties boy band members would be jealous,” Leo laughed.
“It’s a shame it is neither the noughties anymore, nor am I a boy band member,” Regulus replied, shoving the box into Leo’s hands. “Just do it.”
A little over an hour later, Leo was nudging Reg in front of the mirror. “Okay, this was definitely not a mistake! We look amazing. I am taking up a career in hairdressing if I get injured,” Leo declared, holding his hand out for a high five. Whilst Regulus did return it, it was less enthusiastic than Leo had been going for. “You don’t like it?”
“No, I like it,” Regulus shook his head, dragging his fingers along the short sides. The cut wasn’t that different to what it had been before, other than a slightly more dramatic fade. “Just feels weird. My parents would die if they could see me.”
“Well, I think we look badass,” Leo said, running his hand through his own blue hair. He’d left the front long and floppy, deciding to go wild and undercut the back. “Come here, let me take a photo.”
Leo was glad that Regulus had finally learned that while he was not one to throw a tantrum, he did have his ways of getting what he wanted and it was easier for everyone if Regulus just compiled most of the time. The post had barely been up on their Instagram pages for more than 3 minutes when Leo’s phone began to vibrate, Logan’s flashing onto the screen.
“Regulus! Why did my little brother just call to tell me that he wants to dye his hair blue?” Remus yelled up the stairs as Leo picked the call up.
And if drug stores all over the country sold out of blue hair dye the next day? Well, Leo guessed there were worse trends to have started.
60 notes · View notes
jolinarjackson · 3 years
Note
Hey! Do you have any irondad fic recs? I just started reading Peter and Tony fics again and I would love any recs you have!
Hello!
Yes, I do! :D It's by no means complete because I am still busy compiling, but I have quite a few already.
For all the below stories, please heed the tags and warnings on AO3. And of course, feel also free to check out my stories. :)
My AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JolinarJackson/works
The below fics are not compiled in any particular order.
If I Die Young by MusicalLuna
Summary: Tony and Steve are trying to keep their little boy (who's not so little anymore) out of the superhero business for as long as possible, but when a kid's as stubborn as Peter is, they can't always stop him.
And sometimes things go wrong. Really, really wrong.
Categories: Superfamily, Not MCU!Peter Parker
Comment: This is a wonderful whump story that I go back to again and again.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/423790
-----
Lightning in a Bottle by Gruoch
Summary: Peter takes the tablet and looks down at the screen, where a picture of Spider-Man intimately entangled in a passionate embrace with Johnny Storm is displayed across the majority of the Daily Bugle’s home page. TORCH CAUGHT IN SPIDER-MAN’S WEB, the headline reads, bracketed by spider and flame emojis. Peter looks back up at Tony, who is still staring at him completely stone-faced.
Tony reaches across the island and taps the screen. “So. What do you have to say about that?”
“Well. For one, I’m a little disappointed with the headline,” Peter offers.
Tony lets his chin drop against his chest, momentarily defeated, before taking a deep breath and once more skewering Peter with a hard look. “You could have at least given me some warning that the two of you are...I mean, I had my suspicions, but—”
“You’re misconstruing the situation. Spider-Man and the Torch are dating,” Peter explains. “Johnny and I are just friends.”
“Boy, you’re really leaning hard into this whole alter ego thing, aren’t you?” Tony deadpans. “How’s that working out for you?”
Categories: Irondad, SpideyTorch
Comment: I love stories taking advantage of the havoc that secret superhero identities can wreak on romantic relationships. The best about this particular story is the witty writing, which makes Peter being a chaotic mess in this even better.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23413219
-----
The doubts that complicate by @frostysunflowers
Summary: "But he’s smart!" May had blurted, looking up at the teacher with misplaced anger. "I don’t...how does this make sense?"
She was worried, unaware, unprepared, not like Peter who had known for a while that some things were trickier for him than other kids. All the rules hidden in cheerful little rhymes and singing songs about which letters get along and those who don’t play nice; all the robotic reciting of the alphabet nearly every day: none of it had ever truly helped Peter understand how it all worked.
A brand new door opened in his life that day. On the front of it, the word ‘DYSLEXIC’ was printed in bold, the certainty of what it meant holding the letters permanently in place.
or
Nobody ever said being smart was easy.
Categories: Irondad
Comment: This is a wonderful read. @frostysunflowers manages to describe dyslexia in a way that makes the struggle understandable. The relationship between Tony and Peter is heart-warming. This is a great read if you're in the mood for something that is not too long and still want a good dosage of H/C.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23989531
-----
Accepting the Tides by Emma_Anacortes
Summary: Tony had dragged Peter from the depths of despair after May's death. It was normal that he'd grown to care a little about him, right?
Yeah, okay. He freaking loved the kid.
So naturally he would feel a little weird when Richard Parker randomly shows up in Peter's life. Naturally he'd feel protective, nervous, and confused because where has Richard been all this time? And why does Tony feel sick every time he sees him around Peter?
All he knows is if Richard hurts his kid, Tony's gonna give him hell.
Categories: Irondad, Steve & Peter
Comment: This story is intense, no doubt about it. Please heed all the warnings and tags carefully. However, if you give it a try, it's so worth it. This story presents a different backstory to the relationship of Peter and his parents (especially his father) while exploring Peter and Tony forging a father/son-bond in the wake of May's death. I have to say that the the relationship between Peter and Steve in this story is just as prominent and amazingly written. I loved every second of it.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11885844/chapters/26843274
-----
with arms wide open by @parkrstark
Summary: Tony and Pepper are expecting a baby and Peter may be the one most excited...just maybe…
Categories: Irondad, Pepperony
Comment: This is undeniably cute and heart-warming: Tony and Pepper get pregnant and Peter is right there with them, freaking out. Peter spends this story preparing to become a big brother while still being unsure about whether this is the role he is going to fulfill in the baby's life. This stoy focsses on the found family that is Tony, Pepper and Peter, but there are wonderful interactions with May, Rhodey and Happy as well.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14540409
-----
the stars the moon they have all been blown out (you left me in the dark) by @madasthesea
Summary: It starts off with his vision fading in and out.
What kind of demon drug can make someone go blind by inhaling a single lungful? Whatever it is, Tony doubts it’s reversible. And while Peter’s no idiot, he can be idiotically optimistic. He's determined to fix what appears to be unfixable.
Categories: Irondad
Comment: This story is experienced entirely from Tony's point of view, which make the effects of the drug and his reaction to it all the more poignant. Tony's relationship to Peter is especially highlighted in this story. You can only imagine the worry and pain Peter geos through unil the very end of the story and the pay-off is worth it. I want to highlight the way that Tony's experiecne of the effects of the drug are described here, because I thought that was superb writing and put the reader righ in Tony's shoes.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15795141/chapters/36757500
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turn back the clock (and I'll try again in the morning) by @madasthesea
Summary: Peter gets stuck in a time loop. In it, he lives through some of his worst nightmares, only to wake up that morning and have no one remember. He needs Tony to help him get through.
And if that isn't bad enough, his identity is revealed over and over, every day.
Categories: Irondad
Comment: This story is just SO GOOD. Not only is Peter experiencing the same day over and over again and his identity is revealed, but the way it happens also gets more and more taxing and gruesome. This story has emotional highpoints that are written fantastically and the Irondad in this is just heart-warming.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18023177/chapters/42585071
-----
How The Mighty Fall by Meep_Morp
Summary: Since his duel against Toomes on Coney Island, Peter's life has settled down considerably. May knows about his double life and accepts it (mostly). Tony has welcomed him back, and given him more independence as New York's Spider-Man.
One night during patrol he crosses paths with Connor, a teenager who has Extremis in his blood and answers to the wrong kind of people. Though Tony is quick to distrust him, Peter finds himself reluctant to follow his mentor's lead, and a bond develops between the two boys. Their relationship is further complicated when Connor's former master, Negative, makes it a personal mission to destroy them both in his quest for power.
Taking down a superpowered psychopath? Tough, but Peter isn't going to back down.
Stopping Tony from blasting his first potential boyfriend into space? He might need a miracle for that.
Categories: Irondad
Comment: This story is so intricately plotted and just a joy to read. The characters are written to perfection and this includes an absolutely fantastic and fleshed-out OC who, as a reader, you come to care about easily and quickly. Much more subtle is the relationship between Peter and Tony in this fic but every single scene is on-point. I have read and re-read this story several times and it is hard to put aside once you start.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18084407/chapters/42745826
-----
Project Pride by TheSleepingOwl
Summary: In hindsight, it should have been obvious. The signs were all there, unwittingly scattered by Peter like breadcrumbs for Tony to follow—the way he would fall into uncomfortable silence when the topic of dating came up, or become flustered whenever Tony teased him about the mysterious Michelle-Call-Me-MJ character Peter was constantly gushing about, or deflect Tony’s mostly-joking inquiries into whether or not they needed to be having The Talk with a hurricane of splutters and blushes.
And even without the signs, Peter was still his kid. Tony was just supposed to know these things.
So when FRIDAY pulled up Peter’s search history—‘how can i make myself not like boys,’ ‘can you force yourself to be attracted to girls,’ ‘how to stop your friends from knowing youre gay,’ and, most devastating, ‘how can i keep my parents from finding out im gay’—Tony wasn’t surprised so much as deeply, unquantifiably ashamed. Because he should have known.
Categories: Irondad
Comment: This story is an incredibly written POV of Tony coming to terms with Peter's sexuality. It's achingly realistic in the way Tony struggles to connect to Peter, knowing that he's gay. Additionally, this story has a hefty doese of Hurt/Comfort thrown in that hurts when reading it. This is a gem.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22135138/chapters/52834021
-----
Birds Eating Other Birds by aloneintherain
Summary: Peter wishes he hadn’t gotten out of bed that morning. Then, maybe, he wouldn’t be reduced to this - limp-crawling through the rabbit burrows that is Oscorp Tower, a monster of a man on his heels, bloody and bruised and choking on a panic attack.
Categories: Irondad, not MCU!Peter Parker
Comment: I love aloneintherain's stories. I read them when I first got into Avengers fanfic and the way they write dynamics is great. This one is intense and the way it's written sucks you right into it. Norman Osborn is so evil and creepy in this one. Part one is mainly hurt, but stick around for the comfort in part 2!
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7626433
----- And here are some Avengers team dynamic fics as well -----
It Was Probably The Pudding by Serendipity_Cometh
Summary: Given that over the course of the past eleven months Peter Parker hasn't contracted so much as a head-cold, the teenager thought it safe to assume that the whole 'irradiated spider bite' gig had equipped him with an immune system of steel that rivalled Captain America's.
So when he wakes up one night in the midst of the worst asthma attack he's suffered in almost eight years, neither he nor the rest of the team can think of a logical explanation.
And everything sort of goes downhill from there.
Categories: Team, Stony, Clint/Phil, not MCU!Peter Parker
Comment: When I started out reading Avengers fanfictions, I stumbled across this one and go back to it on a regular basis. Lots of whump and great team dynamics.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/953538/chapters/1865305
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In the Home by aloneintherain
Summary: The Avengers have been infected, turned violent and aggressive against their will. And Peter, the only one unaffected, is trapped inside the Tower with six feral teammates.
“Natasha,” Peter says cautiously, “what happened here? Steve attacked me, and if there was ever a sign that something was wrong, it’s having the embodiment of Truth, Justice, and the American Way throw you across the room -”
Natasha comes closer, her stride controlled. Nothing necessarily out of the ordinary, but there’s something in her face, in her eyes -
Natasha lunges across the space, and slams into Peter, hard.
Categories: Team, not MCU!Peter Parker
Comment: One of my very early reads when I started out in the Avengers fandom. Excellent whump, hurt/comfort and team dynamics.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5388563/chapters/12446069
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Fitting In (Tiny Spaces) by aloneintherain
Summary: Peter's trapped beneath a collapsed building during a mission, hurt and unable to move. Luckily, his comm still works. Unluckily, the Avengers don’t realise how bad of a state Peter is in, and Peter isn’t inclined to tell them.
“Spidey, they’ve got reinforcements. We’ve hit a bit of a snag here, and I don’t think anyone will be able to help you for a while. Think you can sit tight while we deal with this?”
The pressure on his lower back and legs was becoming too much. Peter swallowed thickly, fighting down panic. He could handle this.
“Yeah,” Peter said. “I can do that.”
Categories: Team, not MCU!Peter Parker
Comment: There are so many "Peter trapped under a building"-stories out there but this is the one I read first and it stuck with me. Loved the team dynamic in this.
Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4232937
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Text
The Lost Children #Writer Wednesday Din Djarin Modern Day Bounty Hunter x f!reader
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For #Writer Wednesday created by the amazing @autumnleaves1991-blog and tagging @clydesducktape (thanks a lot for the hard work of compiling everything each week)
Summary: This a part 2 of a fic I wrote a few months another Wednesday, read it here. After you scape with Din and your child, you try to find a life again even if that means he has to leave you.
Warnings: Language, talking about neglecting children or abandoned kids, guns. This is fluff with angst and Din being a softie but a dumbass expressing feelings
A/N: I'm super tired, so be ready to find many grammar and mispellings I didn't have the time to really read it through.
The lost children
For a bit, that’s what he said, what he promised until you’re safe and settled.
“So you can keep your little kid in the babycare with the rest of the kids while you’re working. One of the cabins to the right of the front office we’ll be entirely yours. We only ask that you keep clean and in a good state”
“Of course” you’re shining, happy and excited
“You heard that Greg, we’ll have a place on our own” your arms hold the baby tightly, rocking him softly until he giggles. When you turn to Din, he can see your eyes glowing, kissing little Greg’s head, you whisper thank you
Thanking him? what for? He just pointed out that small, almost entirely ripped from the wall, announcement of a local hotel in the middle of the woods that looked for personnel willing to work and live in the resort when they were stopping at a gas station.
It is a perfect place to hide and live a peaceful life and let a baby grow up in the middle of nature. Greg and you could be happy. So why is he thinking that he should make up some excuse so you don't stay, so you don’t leave him. He should be selfish and grab your hand and run away again like you’ve been doing for weeks now, but that’s not life for a baby, and you deserve it, leave the past behind. And him, even if he doesn’t want to admit, it’s part of your past of that runaway woman that commited many mistakes.
But Din’s a bounty hunter, his life on the road, from one job to the next would only make you unhappy, and at the end, you would hate him; and that’s it’s not an option.
Nothing has made Din happier than seeing you smile at him, the little comments here and there you tell him praising him and thanking him one, twice, a thousand times for helping you, the way the baby caresses his face with his small hand and those big eyes looking at him intently until he smiles with only those two little teeth. The way you look perfect, almost like a Madonna from the Renaissance, when the street lights hit your face while he’s driving and you hold your baby against your chest, both of you sleeping in the car.
Would you think he’s a creep for staring? There’s a warmth that grows inside him when he stares at you and baby Greg. A warmth he doesn’t want to let go. He cannot offer you a good life and Din doesn’t want to force you to live like he does, just because he’s so selfish to let you go.
“So what do you think?”
The manager leaves them to think about the offert. And Din balances his big body from one of his legs to the other, hands on his hips, he sighs
“I think”
I think you should be with me
I think I should protect you
I think I should protect Greg
I think I want to be with you, the both of you, forever
I think I love you
But he doesn’t say it
“I think you should take it. It is a good place for a kid”
You frown, even baby Greg looks at him puzzled from the crook of his mother’s neck
“Yes, it seems great, quiet...And I like that Greg could be with other kids. But what about you?”
Your eyes look big, pleading, there’s a question, a petion in them but you don’t say it with words so maybe Din is imagining it, he wants so bad that you will stay with him that maybe he’s making that up
“I will go and…”
And miss you
And miss Greg
And be alone again
“Start the business again somewhere else” he shrugs, and he sees the light flicking in your eyes, the idea in your head being shattered, you’ll never ask the question and he will never answer.
“But you can stay a few days, right? Rest, eat properly for once and repair the car”
“I don’t know…”
What would hurt more? leaving already or prolonging it?
“I don’t want to be this direct, Clint...” he likes that you keep using that nickname you gave him when you’re in public. You only use his real name when you’re alone. Making it even more special, it’s intimate, more anything he has ever felt.
“but you need a shower. And I do too and this stinky baby” you bury your nose on little Gregs neck and it makes him laugh out loud that angelic and sweet giggle hits him hard and before he even knows it, Din is nodding
“A few days won’t hurt”
It’s surprising how they fall easily in a routine. How they seem to find a perfect way around each other, a perfect model like the stars and planets always circling around each other and never colliding. You, dancing softly in the kitchen humming while you stir the soup, baby Greg chasing his little frog while Din holds his back so he doesn’t lose his balance
“Hey, you want this?” Din smiles fondly to the baby and with his long arm places the soft toy far away from him “C’mon like before “ his big hands on his side while the babe excitedly starts crawling towards his frog
“Hey! look! he’s getting faster!”
You smile at them, that big and serious man has the proudest smile, so bright and pure watching your baby grow before his eyes.
It’s been almost a week and he’s still repairing the car, or so he says. The manager hasn’t asked any questions and just assumed they are a family. And you must accept that you do look like one, a broken and weird one, but more than anything you have ever experienced.
And you wish he stayed forever that he could be a father to Greg, he certainly acts the part.
“Dinner is ready.”
The scent of the pines, the bugs chirping and the soft crackle of the fire is the perfect lullaby. Your baby has taken the habit of falling asleep against Din’s wide shoulder while the three of them enjoy the small porch outside the cabin.
“I think the car is ready”
The words you fear the most float in the air and you’re almost tempted to ignore them
“Hmm” you don’t face him yet, just look at the trees and try to swallow the pain “And where will you go?”
“Don’t know yet”
“How will I contact you?”
“I…”
“Do I have to search on Craigslist? Some old codewords in the newspaper? How do you even find a bounty hunter?” you’re laughing, but it really doesn’t hide the pain in your tone
“I have a phone” Din rolls his eyes at you but he’s amused, surprisingly he’s smiling more since you met him, he’s not that stern or cold as you pictured him when he caught you
“That would have come in handy when we were lost in the desert”
“I mean a fixed one”
“You have a house then?” you turn to him, lowering your voice midsentence as you see your son sleeping peacefully on Din’s arms
“Sort of”
“I will need you to expand that a little bit more Din”
Din in the quiet of the night, the moon, the stars and the fire illuminating your face he admires you pronounce it: The tip of your tongue showing softly between your teeth and he wishes to see you repeat it one, twice a thousand times.
“My family, my...it’s difficult to explain, anyway, it’s my safeplace, where I go to rest, I get the information for my next jobs, etc”
“Oh...okay, so I call you there?”
“Yeah you could, and write if you want” he offers with pleasing eyes
“Penpals, great” you answer and it sounds more sarcastic that you intended
“You could send me pictures of Greg”
Din lowers his eyes to the soft crown of the baby, that soft place on his head where he smells so sweet and tender. He can believe that he’s going and there will be no nights like this.
“I will do”
Your eyes get teary watching him softly kiss you babe, carrying to his crib whispering sweet words so he doesn’t wake up.
“So I’ve packed many water bottles, and those protein bars in case you get yourself lost in the desert again, cowboy. Sadly you won’t have my unparalleled company” you joke tapping him on his arm
“No, I won’t” Din forces a smile “I...Take care” he awkwardly squeezes your forearm
“You too-Shit!” you scream slapping your forehead “The sandwiches! I knew I forgot something. I made you something for lunch. I’ll be right back”
You press little Greg to Din’s arms before running away leaving them with wide eyes and a confused look
“Take care of you mother, kid, sometimes she can be a lot to handle”
“Hi, Ken” you say breathly as you storm inside the reception and get inside the staff meeting room.
“Hi! Has your boyfriend left already?” He asks while writing something on his agenda
“Not yet” you say looking for the lunch bag you had prepared inside the fridge. You hand stops midway when you heard her voice
It is horrible, we have not consolation, our baby has been kidnapped and we have no information
Her fake cries fill the room, some national tv is making a report on the kidnapping of little Greg. The tragic zoom at her face fades away when they show a picture of your baby.
“Fuck…” you mutter
I need him back. He’s my baby
“He’s not your baby, you bitch” you spat under your breath
“What did you say, hun, you need something” Ken raises his eyes to you, one eyebrow arched, he follows your eyes to the TV
“That baby looks exactly…” and then you know
You grab your sandwich bag and strom out as you did before. Din is holding Greg on his hip while he finishes loading the trunk with his bags
“We’re out of here”
You cry when you reach to him, pushing him away, you close the trunk door
“Wait what happened?”
“No time, let’s go”
How has this man trusted you so much as to run away with you? For all he knows you could actually be a kidnapper, that story about leaving your son with someone you trusted and that eventually you discovered that they were assholes could be fake. But he doesn’t. He runs away, drives and drives without asking a question.
“She had the guts to say it was his son, he isn’t. She barely had it for a few months until I could settle my life. And then she asked me for a crazy amount of money because children are expensive you know I fucking payed for a a new pool in her stupid house, while my son was always dressed in old clothes, too big or too small. They didn’t care for him”
And on top of trusting you, he lets you rant away all you anger
“There’s no way I’m giving him back. I rather die!”
He stops the car, the road again is silent, dressed in the colors of the sunset
“Calm down, you’re scaring him” Greg looks at you with trembling lips not knowing why he should be scared or angry, he just knows that his mama is upset “He will stay with you, I promise”
“The police must be searching for us” your warm tears cloud your eyes
“They won’t find us where we are going”
He ditches the car somewhere and you see him burning it. He carries the big bag on his back and hands you water and snacks from time to time.
“Just a few miles more”
The red stone looks like some ethereal cathedral around you, a palace in the middle of nowhere almost like another world, magical and eerie. If there’re marks or signs you don’t see them, but Din walks among the rock so sure of his steps searching among the labyrinth of rocks. And suddenly…
You hear the soft clicks of many guns' trigger locks going off at the same time. But Din softly whistles some tune and from all over: up the rocks, between them, children come out. Kids, all different from one another, some really young, others tall and weirdly looking teenagers in that mixed age where they are not a child nor an adult and others already grown to be young adults.
“Din” a curly haired girl dressed with camouflage clothes runs towards him with open arms, she has a crooked smile as she has lost some of her front teeth
“Hey, gumball!” Din bents down when she hugs him, her sweet face pressed against his belly
“Who are they?” a boy, holding a shotgun to his side, his face full of red dots, frowns at you
“They’re friends who need help” Din explains raising one of his arms trying to calm down the group
“Are they lost too?” Gumball asks
“Yes” Din nods
“But she’s a mum” some kid screams from above
“Mums can be lost too. C’mon, we’ve been walking for hours, can we go home?” he answers
“Of course, let’s go. Boba will be happy to see you” Gumball grabs Din’s hand and smile widely jumping happily through the stone corridors
“Wait, Din, what the fuck? who the fuck is Boba? What are these kids doing here?”
Gumball fires a concerned look at you
“She said two bad words”
“Gonna let it pass, Gum, she’s a bit scared and tired” Din smirks your way and you question in silent muttering the fuck again and again
“I see you pronouncing it, you know?” Gumball rolls her eyes “No bad words or you pay the price”
“Yes, understood, sorry” you close your lips hard trying not to ask more questions until you arrive home or whatever that is.
After a few minutes of turning left right, left right, right left you’re completely lost until the stone towers open up a way to a plain and on it, a ranch.
Some horses roam around nibbling on the pale green grass that grows on the land. A house on the centre is painted white but the paint looks old and chipped.
Now in the clear you count the children that surround you, ten, ten kids in the middle of nowhere.
“Welcome to the Watch” Din smiles at you, he almost look shy and earning a upset look from Gumball, he releases her hand and holds you with his big palm on your back
“What is this place, Din?”
“Home” he simply answers
The kids run through the porch screaming and opening without a care the door to the house
“Yeah, I heard you, little heathens” a masculine voice screams from the interior
His hard steps clack on the ground and you hear the spurs before you see him arriving with his leather boots, his used jeans and a low cowboy hat covering him from the sun
“I thought something must have happened to you” he says, evaluating Din. His tanned face is covered by a long and twisted scar from his lip to his forehead, he has dark eyes like Din but colder in a way, very deep and when they fall into you, you hug your baby tightly without thinking it
“I see” he says “C’mon on in, that baby can’t stay too long in the sun”
The house is nice, surprisingly tidy given the fact that there are ten kids living in it. The furniture looks like the exhibit of an old auction house, each one of them completely different of style, color or age from the other.
The man that everyone call Boba gives some orders to the group and they efficiently start doing what he asks
“Prepare a room for our guests”
“Bring water and food”
“Prepare some fresh fruit for the baby”
You sit, little Greg with eyes wide open. As any baby he’s absorbed by all the children around him, and he reaches with his little hands trying to grab them
“Little fella wants to play, you can leave him on the rug if he wants to”
“He’s fine here, thanks” you say holding him although Greg is already removing your hands from him wanting to explore
“Boba, we have nowhere to go” Din explains sipping on his cold water
“I guess, you have never brought anybody here” He reclines himself on his rocking chair watching Din intenly
“We need to protect them for a while, until we can find a solution”
“You’ll be safe here, you know that, you can stay as long as you want, just respect the house rules” and he points to a wood board, engraved in them are a few rules
Be respectful of yourself and others
I finish my tasks as promised, ask for help if I can’t
I will not curse
Be clean of yourself and your environment
Protect your family and your house above all
“They seem...pretty logical, won’t be a problem to follow them” you smile uncomfortably
“Well, somebody said you have a potty mouth, young lady. So watch it, but for the moment, you may rest, we will see for the rest tomorrow” He sighs when he gets up and taps on Din’s shoulder before he goes to the kitchen
“Let’s make dinner” you hear him scream, before the rumbling of pans and chopping and children screaming start
“Din…” you say after a moment
“I know you have a million questions”
“Duh!” you laugh nervously
“This is my family, we’re not related by blood but by circumstances. Lost kids, abandoned, neglected; we have a safe place here and in time we go out in the world and make our own life but we always have the Watch over us. A place where we’re watched over, taken care of, listened…” his caramel eyes glow and you see his strong and stern facade crumble before your eyes, in this place he can relax. He feels safe so you can too, right?
“We’ll be fine here” He reaches for you hand, the one that holds little Greg caressing him with your thumb, and covers both of you squeezing softly
We, it’s the second time he has referred to you as a group, you and me and Greg, We.
“We’ll be fine” You smile back, lowering your face, you kiss his knuckles, leaving a warmth there Din will be holding for hours.
You don’t notice, but the whole time during dinner he passes his thumb over that small place of his skin where you kissed him.
(Hey! remember when you read that fic in May? I continued it...so sorry that it took so long, I've taken the liberty of tagging you since you were interested in a follow up from the first one @fangirlalexia @childrenofthewatch )
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seri-studies · 3 years
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Introduction:
Hey everyone! My name is Serebii/Serenity, you can call me Seri for short if you want to!
This is my studyblr that I decided to make one on the get-go because I’ve been in the Studyblr community for a long time before deciding to create my own for the sake of sharing study tips to help out others just like how several other blogs helped me!
Here’s just a few things you should know about me while I’m on this blog!
Personal Info:
I’m a Chinese-American upcoming junior!
I’m Oriented Aroace, and uses several microlabels (I’m planning on creating a carrd soon with all my personal info so stay tuned to my Personal Notes ;))
I use the pronouns Fae/Faem/Faer/Faers/Faeself and She/Her. Please respect that I use these pronouns. :)
I’m an INFJ, Slytherin Capricorn
English is my third language (even though Arabic is my second language, I legit barely know any of the basics, if at all, so take it as you will lol), so if I make any grammatical and/or spelling errors, please feel free to correct me!
Interests:
Reading - I particularly love reading essays (I know weird, but hey, I love analyzing stuff), historical fiction, fantasy, just anything in general to be honest. I grab my hands at anything lol.
Analyzing - For me, I love analyzing story lores, characters and their flaws and traits, scientific papers, I just love researching and analyzing!
Writing - Actually I’ve been meaning to create a Writeblr for a while since I love to write mainly about my fictional and nonfictional works, but I think I’ll stick to this instead first lol.
Dancing - I especially love contemporary dance, can’t get enough of the movement and rush of it all.
Sing/songwriting - I love music, a lot more than I should, but hey, I sing and make songs whenever and wherever I can!
Goals:
I want to be able to improve my concentration in my school work with the several helpful tips from other studyblrs!
I want to share out any and all study tips that worked for me that may not be as common to others, or are in other places (ahem, maybe Pinterest) that aren’t as accessible to people.
And I want to manage both my school work and bullet journals!
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Masterlist:
This is my list of content that I’ll compiled into here for the sake of time in case you wanna look over my stuff!
Not to mention, my Tags List that will show what tags I’ll be using for my purposes here!
Masterlist
Tags List
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Special Mentions:
With everything said and done, I just wanna give a couple of shout outs to a few individuals who really inspired me to create a studyblr and say that they’re amazingly good at what they do in their blogs!
@studyquill
@myhoneststudyblr
@lara-studies
@studyblrmasterposts
@studydiaryofamedstudent
@obliviatestudies
@emmastudies
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Personal Notes:
This area is mainly for announcements regarding my personal life, just in case something happens and I’m not here for several days ya know?
Either ways, I love this community! I cannot wait to be further involved!
(Edit: 8-11-21)
Hey everyone! So now that I’m starting school, imma get straight to work!
Which also means that I’ll also be doing an overhaul over the next few weeks or months cleaning up on this blog for both my organization style and for you guys to just navigate my blog easier. Meaning I’ll probably be adding onto the Tags List and creating the Masterlist for you all!
For now, that’s about it, I hope this school year goes well for everyone who may have had struggled last year (I know I did sadly)!
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officialwittek · 3 years
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pt. 2
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*gif is not mine* 
word count: 1,987 
“SAGE” a voice yells, my eyes shoot open and I fall out of the bed, David laughs loudly holding his vlog camera
“Fuck you” I groan, standing up I notice I was changed and all my makeup was taken off
“Wow I was so productive even while drunk, I even took my makeup off bitches” I say, collecting my things off the floor and plugging my phone into the charger
“Nah, it was Jeff. You passed out after taking shots with Zane and Ilya. So he carried you into Natalie’s room and took care of you before he left” David explained, tucking his camera under his arm
“Oh nice, where’s Natalie?” I ask, putting on some shorts and walking to the kitchen with David
“She went to get coffee for everyone” He says, I laugh quietly seeing all of our friends passed out on the floor or the couch
“I guess I’ll make breakfast. Then I’ll help clean after we eat” I say, David nods and follows me to the kitchen
I grab some eggs, bacon, and pancake mix and start making breakfast for everyone. I notice Jeff and Todd aren’t here and assume they went to work out so I make extra food just in case they come by after. I shoot Jeff a text and ask him but I just get left on read. Weird. I pout a little and David suddenly takes my phone.
“Why did Jeff leave you on read?” He asks, I shrug and David takes out his own phone and texts him and of course gets an immediate response
“Interesting, whatever. I ain’t tripping ‘bout no hoe” I say, spooning the scrambled eggs into a big bowl
After I finished making breakfast, Natalie walks in with the coffee, Todd helping her carry everything. Our friends wake up one by one and join us in the kitchen
“Sage, baby marry me” Zane says, I laugh and take everyones empty plates and put them in the dishwasher
“Baby.. you couldn’t pay me enough money” I reply, our group laughing even harder
I wash the dishes while Matt helps me put them away. He also offers to help me clean the rest of the house. I take the soiled couch blankets and throw them in the wash while Matt takes the trash out. I grab the empty beer cans, solo cups, and hard liquor bottles and take them to the recycling and trash. After about an hour we had David’s house looking as nice as possible. I say bye to David and Natalie before Matt and I head our separate ways for the afternoon.
I finally get home and take a shower. Cleaning David’s house had me in the mood to be productive and Carly was probably with Erin I open our curtains and play some music over the speakers. Quietly singing to myself I take my laundry and start separating the loads before throwing the first one in. I walk to the kitchen and start cleaning out our fridge. Expired foods, old take out, nasty old fruits and veggies. After that I compile a grocery list and send a quick text to Carly to see if she needs anything, she sends me a handful of items and tells me to let her know how much she should PayPal me. I wash the dishes and put everything in their respected cabinets. After a few hours of cleaning and washing laundry, I get dressed to run errands.
I choose some brown patchwork jeans, a white tank top, a chocolate brown oversized zip up jacket with my white Air Force ones. I throw my hair in a ponytail and text Jeff.
Sage: Hi bub, ik you left me on read, but do you want to run errands with me?
Jeff: nah i’m good.
I sigh in annoyance and shove my phone in my purse. I grab my keys and walk down to the parking lot. I get a text from Corinna and Natalie asking if they can tag along with me since they’re bored and I agree, the three of us meeting at David’s house. After they pile into my Honda Civic and we go to the grocery store.
“So.. what’s got you all annoyed?” Corinna asks, I realize my eyebrows have been furrowed the whole time
“Jeff keeps leaving me on read or he’s being dry. Even at breakfast he didn’t even acknowledge me. I mean what the fuck. I would never ever do that to him. The fuck is his problem” I whine, grabbing a carton of oat milk
“Well you did kiss him last night and you haven’t said anything” Nat points out, my eyes widen and my jaws go slack, the two girls giggle at my expression  
“I k-kissed him? I mean shit go me, but now I feel like an asshole” I ask, turning to them and I sigh
“I’m never drinking again” I reply, making them laugh. After a bit more shopping we all go to pay for our stuff.
We stop by my apartment and they help me put the groceries away. We all go back to Dave’s house and hang out for a bit. I start editing some pictures I took for my instagram. While editing Todd, Jeff, Zane, Carly, and Erin walk in. They all come up to me and give me a hug, well except a certain someone. I’ll admit I feel like an asshole about not saying anything but I didn’t know it pissed him off that much. I text and ask if we can talk in the studio and he leaves me on read right in front of my eyes.
I roll my eyes and just sit at the kitchen island alone. Mindlessly scrolling through my phone as I hear some people approaching me. I turn and see Mariah, Carly, and Erin. They immediately knew something was up, my eyebrows were furrowed so we walk outside to my car.
“It’s fucking Jeff. So Nat and Corinna told me what happened last night and I obviously felt bad. So I texted Jeff about five minutes and asked him if we could talk in the podcast studio for a bit and he left me on read. He probably hates me now. He’s been ignoring me all day” I cry, Mariah rubs my shoulder to help console me
“I’m not going out with you guys tonight. I think I’m just going to stay home” I say, the three of them nod
“Well then all the girls are coming over tonight. I hate seeing princess peach being sad” Mariah says, princess peach is her nickname for me since I love anything to do with peaches and everyone treats me like a princess since I’m the youngest member
“Finee, bring wine and I’ll make pasta” I say, finally letting a small smile appear as we head back to the house
“Where the fuck did you guys go?” Heath asks, wrapping his arms around Mariah as I pretend to throw up
“We went to make out real quick” I retort, walking over to collect my things
“Nat, Corinna let’s go babes” I call, they excitedly grab their things and we hop in Nat’s Mercedes
“Oh c’mon guys” Todd says, but Carly promptly stops the rest from coming
“No we’re having a girl’s night. Sage isn’t feeling well, no boys allowed. Especially Jeff” she says, mumbling the last part so only the girls could hear and we let out giggles
“Fuck men” I yell, closing Nat’s door as we head to my place with Carly
Nat drops us off while her, Mariah, and Corinna get some alcohol. I grab the ingredients from the pantry and fridge. I decide to make a simple pasta with garlic, cherry tomatoes and basil. While I was cooking the other girls come back and we all gather in the kitchen. Talking about everything and anything, Nat starts snapping pictures on a disposable camera. After a few minutes the food was ready and we all gathered in our living room to watch some movies. After some bickering we all decide on Always Be My Maybe.
“T-that was so good” I cry, heavy tears streaming down my face, I look and see them all with tears in their eyes
“I hate being single” I whine, grabbing a pillow and crying into it and the others start laughing at me
“Sure sure” Corinna says, taking all of our plates to the sink. After countless bottles of wine we started dipping into the vodka. Natalie decides to stay sober for tonight  since she’ll probably have to take everyone else home
“Wait hold on David’s calling” Natalie says, I turn the music down and sit there nursing my vodka bottle and another bottle of sparkling pink lemonade
“Yea I’m not sure Sage is in any shape to go anywhere” She comments with a laugh, watching Corinna take the bottle and pour more vodka in my mouth
“Uhm I don’t know, let me talk to her” Nat says, her smile falling as she covers the mic with her hand
“Is it cool if the boys come here? They’re tired of staying at David’s and he needs drunk Sage content” She asks, I look at the rest of the girls and sigh
“I guess” I reply, Natalie purses her lips before replying
“No, we said it was girl’s night. You can get drunk Sage content any day of the week” She says, soon there’s some jiggling by our door as Natalie and Carly quickly run to the door and lock the door with the latch above the handle
“David get the fuck out of here” Natalie yells, stopping them from kicking our door down
“It’s ok I guess, just let them in” I reply, getting off the floor and unlocking it, quickly  walking to my balcony and Erin locks the door behind me, knowing I should have some alone time
I play some music on my phone and just sip the vodka in my hand. I take a hit from my puff bar, just enjoying the cool breeze on my skin. I let some tears fall down, thoughts invade my head. Maybe Jeff is just over how clingy I am? Is he tired of being friends with me? I sigh and sink deeper into my chair. I jump when I hear a knock, I quickly wipe the tears off my face and turn. I’m greeted by that dumb face and nod.
“Hey” I said, taking a hit of my puff, watching the vapor disappear as Jeff take a seat next to me
“Hi..” he replies softly, I can feel him burning holes in the side of my head
“Carly said I should probably come talk to you” he continued, I roll my eyes and collect my things
“Thing is, I don’t really want to talk to you anymore ok? This is me, leaving your dumbass on read in real life” I slur, putting my phone in my pants as I reach the door he grabs my wrist
“Please, I know you’re mad and I don’t really know why” Jeff replies, I scoff and set my things back down
“You ignore me all day, LEAVE ME ON READ WHILE I’M TEN FUCKING FEET BEHIND YOU, over a fucking drunk kiss for the vlog. Why would I be mad? You asshole” I yell, finally getting someone to open the door and I storm back in, sitting in the kitchen with the girls
“I DOn’T ReaLlY kNoW WhY You’Re MAd. The fucking NERVE of him” I rant, Nat pats my back as the girls and I talk on the kitchen floor
After another hour everyone leaves and I get ready for bed. Sure, I could’ve actually talked to him and I really was until he asked why I’m mad. I mean what the fuck? Whatever, I set my alarm and slip off into a peaceful sleep.
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