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thisismeracing · 5 months

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How you get the girl | DR3

― Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo x black!plus size!reader ― Warning: mentions of food and alcohol; Mclaren Danny and tooth-rotting fluff. (1.5k words) ― Summary: Yn is tired of going on dates only to realize that the guy she thought was great, was actually terrible. So that’s why when her friend tells her she knows someone who would match perfectly, Yn accepts the blind date. It’s gonna be her last attempt at love, and now Daniel only has one date to prove he’s worth it. (based on this request)

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There are many ways in which one can fall in love. Yn didn't expect it to happen with her on the first date. To be fair, she didn’t expect it to happen to her at all. Being a plus-size black girl she learned to love herself, well aware that the way society portrays beauty wouldn’t always include her. Her shade, shape, and experiences. Which doesn’t mean she was not pretty. Quite the opposite, she knew she was stunning, and no validation was needed for that, yet you can miss it every once in a while. It rejoices your soul to hear how good you look and how smart you are.

But she left it on the second plan, focusing on her work and studies. Things were good, great even, however, her friends knew she deserved someone good. And as it happens, they knew exactly the pair for her.

Daniel was not looking for love either. He liked how things were going, and liked how he was able to focus in a different light this season, however, he missed it. Missed having someone to celebrate post-races with, to cuddle, and to hold him when he felt down. That’s why when Adam and Amina, two of his close friends from a tight group, proposed to set him up on a blind date he accepted. There wasn’t anything to lose, and he liked to follow his own bits of advice about enjoying being naive, enjoying the butterflies.

Even though it was a blind date, it was Danny who set up everything, with the help of his friends, of course. According to them, Yn would like a beach date. So that’s what he aimed for.

And it felt just right when she showed up wearing an orange summer set with a shy, yet bright smile on her face.

Yn didn’t know at the time, but she had just given a whole meaning to the orange color for him.

“You must be Amina’s friend, Daniel, right?” Yn asked, voice being carried by the wind and getting mixed with the sounds of waves crashing behind them.

Daniel nodded watching her curls bounce and her lips stretch in a small smile, “Yeah-Yeah, it’s me.”

“Yn,” they shook hands with a shy smile because even though Daniel was anything but shy, something about that date seemed new to him, like something he never experienced before.

“I hope you like the beach, and pizza. I wanted to go for something private and chill, Amina and Adam agreed, but still, I hope I got this right.”

She smiles, looks at the blanket on the sand, the pizza box, and the wine, then nods, “I love it. It’s exactly what I would go for had I been the one to choose the setting.”

“Really?” There’s a slight hint of disbelief mixed with amusement in his tone, and it makes Yn chuckle.

“Maaaaybe this would tie with a coffee shop date,” she confesses.

“We can do coffee shop for our second date,” Daniel is quick to shoot his shot and Yn arches her brow, she wants to smile again.

“What makes you think we’re having a second date?”

“I’m just manifesting, throwing it to the universe,” he jokes and she can’t help but laugh while they walk side by side to the blanket. “See? I made you laugh, my chances are getting higher, aren’t they?”

“It all depends on the pizza flavor, now.”

“Good thing I got one slice from each, then.”

“You kidding me?”

“No, and I got a whole one of your favorite flavor, well, according to Amina.”

Yn watches in disbelief and Danny sits by her side and sure enough, opens the two boxes of pizza showing her a pizza with different slices and a whole one of her favorite.

“Ok, and that’s how you get the girl. You might have landed a second date, Daniel.”

He smiles brightly and she can’t help but think that he now has a third one too.

“So, aside from having a great taste in pizza, what else should I know about you?” He asks while opening the wine bottle and Yn chews on a bit of food before starting to tell him about herself.

They go back and forth, there’s never the awkward silence, and they realize they have many things in common aside from the two friends that set them up. Yn has no idea he’s a driver and somehow it makes Daniel even more enamored by her. She seems to like him for who he is truly, and not because of a cool side of his that happens to make him famous and rich. It’s warm and fuzzy, and fun, and the symphony of waves crashing down and giggles envelop their afternoon until the sun starts to set and they decide to head home parting with a timid kiss in the corner of their lips.

It’s on the second date when she makes fun of his milk foam mustache and sips her own coffee mirroring his image that Daniel realizes he might be in love. Her dark skin is glowing, and the hair atop her head is like a halo, while she smiles at his camera with a funny face pointing at her mustache. Both unaware there are other people in the small coffee shop.

Daniel can only see Yn.

And Yn can only see Daniel.

At the end of that date, he takes her home and kisses her at her door. It’s soft and warm, and it feels right. It feels perfect. They fit together like two puzzle pieces. His heart racing under her hand, and her face stretching in a smile under his. He gets inside, and they talk and kiss a bit more before he has to leave.

It doesn’t take long for the third date to happen. Just two days, both counting the hours to see each other while frantically texting. It’s a drive-in theater, Yn’s idea. They watch a horror movie while Daniel gets scared by the jumps every time, making Yn laugh. They also share a popcorn pot, fingers shyly caressing the other whenever they touch by accident. When the movie ends and the credits are rolling around, the moon and the gleam from the big screen in front of them casting a distinctive glow on Yn, Daniel is sure he’s in love.

“Hey, so- I have this race next week, would you wanna go with me? I can fly you out on Saturday, or you can go with me and see how everything works from behind the scenes,” he suggests, fingers crossed in the dark praying for her to accept, praying for her not to think he’s being too fast. Maybe he was indeed, but this was all new to him too. He was fast on the track, he was never this fast outside it, never this fast to fall, to want someone, to seek someone, to show off someone. He wanted her by his side.

“Wouldn’t it be like making things official?” Yn asks genuinely curious and Daniel can tell by the way she bites her lips and one of her eyebrows goes up the slightest.

“Yeah, am I going too fast?”

“I mean, you’re a racing driver, I would say it’s your job to go fast, isn’t it?” She jokes and he laughs throwing his head on the headrest.

“Yes, but outside the track, I only wanna go fast like this for you.”

“That was so cheesy.”

“But did you like it?” He grins, and Yn rolls her eyes playfully before her body bends over the dash to capture his lips in a kiss.

“I loved it.”

And so a few days later Yn finds herself on a private plane meeting a bunch of different people and being introduced as his girlfriend, because sure enough, Daniel asked properly when he dropped her home that night. He got her a necklace and everything the next day. She learns that racing and the whole Formula 1 thing is more hectic than it seemed, but still, it’s fun. Amina and Adam watch the Sunday race with her, making fun of the way she can’t help but cheer loudly sometimes and bite her nails.

That was the Sunday Daniel got P1. The same Sunday he ran to her before the podium and kissed her lips in front of everyone, giving her his biggest smile and thanking her for being there, his lucky charm.

That was also the Sunday he said he loved her for the first time while they celebrated in private after the party. Laced in each other's love, gazing into the other’s eye, the certainty of the truth behind his statement.

Their friends were right, they were perfect for each other.

────── ⋆🪩 VOICEMAIL: Hi, honeybees! I hope you guys liked this piece! <3 I wanted to add a huge shout-out to C (my coffee emoji anon on Tumblr) for proofreading this (Ily, C!)

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#dr3 #daniel ricciardo #daniel ricciardo x reader #daniel ricciardo x black!reader #f1 x black!reader #f1 x plus size!reader #plus size!reader #f1 fandom #f1 fluff #daniel ricciardo fluff #daniel ricciardo imagine #millie writes #f1 x reader #formula 1 x reader #f1 fanfic

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discopaddock · 1 year

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BIEVRE RIVER - PIERRE GASLY

PAIRING: pierre gasly x fem!reader

GENRE: angst, fluff

NOTE: english isn't my first language so im sorry for any mistakes

WARINGS: sad and heartbroken pierre :(, mentions of crying, google translated french

PART TWO

Pierre never ever had felt in his whole life that ridiculed and betrayed. The love of his life ran away from their wedding, plus with his own cousin. He looked pathetic in front of his friends and family.

It was supposed to be his day, his great day and what? And a dick.

During his great day, he was sitting with tears in his eyes and on face, with McDonald’s and a bottle of Absolut in his hands on the beach by the river Bievre.

He dropped his phone on the floor in the church, probably pulling it down, while he was running away by sacristy with face all in tears.

He had with himself a wallet, bottle of vodka, food, car and Alexander McQueen on himself.

He was feeling woefully, but still he was wealthy and handsome. She didn’t take these from him.

And when he was sitting the next hour, virtually alone on that beach, he heard a voice behind him; small, brokenly and crying a little bit.

“Sorry, mind if I sit here?” Gasly turned around and saw a girl in white shirt and long black skirt with heels and a bottle of wine in one hand and a box from one of the best bakers in Paris in the other. She had red eyes, just like him, which didn’t make him feel better.

“No, no problem” he answered, and she nodded her head in thanks and dropped the shoes on the sand.

“I’m Y/N, by the way” she said, when she finally sat down. Pierre shouldn’t have been ready at that moment for any conversation, but something attracted him to that girl, who just like him had to cry for some reason on that day. So because of that he told her his name. “Sounds nice. What brings you here, Pierre?”

“Ah, putain” he slipped out, when he was thinking for a while in silence. “Ma fiancée s'est enfuie de notre mariage” he said eventually, hoping that she didn’t speak french. Ah, fuck. My fiancée ran away from our wedding.

“Je suis vraiment désolé. Désolé de demander” the girl said quickly, which made Pierre want to hit himself on his forehead. She wasn't stupid. I mean, in his opinion, she didn't look stupid. I’m so sorry. Sorry for asking.

“D'accord. Je suppose que je devais en parler à quelqu'un” he laughed and then took a sip of vodka. “Et qu'est-ce qui vous amène ici?” It’s okay. I guess I had to tell someone. And you, what brings you here?

He was curious. Maybe it was her boyfriend? Or girlfriend. Or completely something else.

“Dure journée de travail” Y/N answered him, looking for something in her bag. A hard day at work.

“Dure journée de travail?” Where do you work?

“A l'Ambassade,” the girl said. In the embassy.

“Alors tu es intelligent” Pierre told, making her laugh. So you are clever.

“J'ai à peine réussi mes examens finaux! Je suis terriblement stupide” she announced and then took a corkscrew out of her purse. I barely graduated! I’m terribly stupid.

Pierre thought that Y/N was cute. Pretty also. Her H/C hair cascaded down her back, and her E/C eyes, freckles on her straight nose, and dimples on both cheeks gave her charm. She definitely wasn’t ugly, that was something he could tell after watching her wrestle with the wine stopper for a while.

“T'aider?” Do you need help?

The girl nodded, then handed him the bottle, taking his vodka from him so that it wouldn't spill.

“Sur quelle chanson étiez-vous censé danser la première danse?” she asked completely out of nowhere, and when she heard the title of Ed Sheeran's most popular song from him, she twisted her mouth in a grimace of disgust. “Oh God! C'est la pire première chanson de danse! Sérieusement? Il n'y en avait pas d'autre?” What song were you supposed to dance your first dance to? This is the worst song for a first dance! Seriously? There was no other?

"Je voulais quelque chose en français, mais elle a choisi Ed," he confessed, pouring wine into the glass she was holding. He had no idea where she got it from, but he liked it. I wanted something in French, but she chose Ed.

“C'est peut-être encore mieux que tu ne l'aies pas épousée. Totalement insipide de sa part," she said, sticking the bottle and glass into the wet sand before opening the box. "Aide-toi." She pushed them under his nose and he took out two yellow macaroons. Maybe it's even better that you didn't marry her. She is literally so tasteless. Help yourself.

“Merci”

Pierre thought that Y/N might have been right, that it was better that he had not married Dulcinea. Yes, she was pretty and he really felt something for her, but he wasn't bad at writing stories either.

"Je suppose que je devrais rentrer à la maison," he said, when the sun had long since sunk below the horizon and both bottles had run out of alcohol. "Mais j'ai perdu mon téléphone quelque part et je n'ai aucun moyen d'appeler Charles," he laughed at his stupidity. Drunk him told her the whole story of his life, but he regretted nothing. I should probably go home. But I lost my phone somewhere and I have no way to call Charles.

Y/N put her phone in front of his face. Already unlocked with a view of the Dune Paul Atreides wallpaper. Or Timothee Chalamet, because he played him in the last film adaptation, after all.

"Entrez l'indicatif régional devant ce long numéro” she announced as he took the smartphone from her. Enter the area code before this long number.

“Quel est l'indicatif de pays de Monaco?” What is the area code for Monaco?

“+377.”

"Comment sais-tu cela?" he asked, typing in his best friend's number. How do you know this?

"Je travaille à l'ambassade, ça doit être clair," she replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I work at the Embassy, that's obvious.

About five or seven minutes after Charles answered the phone, he appeared on the beach looking very worried.

“Salut Charles! Tu me manques." Pierre greeted the Monegasque, whose expression changed to a concerned one when he saw Gasly's condition. The Frenchman got up from the sand and hugged Leclerc, who also wrapped his arms around him. He had never felt so sorry for him. And he knew him most of his life and was there when they kicked him out of Red Bull and moved to Toro Rosso. Hey Charles! I miss you.

"Je te suis aussi, Pierre. Je m'inquiétais pour toi" he replied after a moment as they pulled apart. I follow you too, Pierre. I was worried about you.

"Ah j'ai oublié! C'est Y/N. Mon nouvel ami. Y/N, voici Charles, mon meilleur ami” the blue-eyed man rushed towards the girl, dragging Charles with him. The brown haired woman hastily got up and almost spilled her wine from the glass, but she extended her hand towards the newly met man, shifting. Ah, I would forget! This is Y/N. My new friend. Y/N, this is Charles, my best friend.

Leclerc thought that Y/L/N was a really pretty girl. In Pierre's type.

"Comment rentres-tu à la maison, ma douce?" Gasly turned to her as she stowed her things into her rag bag. How are you getting home, sweets?

A red light bulb went off in Charles' head at that moment. His friend never asked his possible mates for one or two nights about transportation home.

“Métro," she replied shortly, and the brunette immediately shook his head. Subway.

“Non non Non! Nous vous conduirons avec Charles. D'accord, Charles?” The green-eyed man only nodded, because that was all he had left. The girl at first did not want to agree, but under Leclerc's pleading eyes she did, because she knew that drunk Pierre would not let her go so easily. No no no! We'll drive you with Charles. Right, Charles?

And so Y/N ended up sitting between Gasly's legs in a black Ferrari 488 Pista Spider. Brunette got his phone in his hands and after seeing it, he said that the next day he would go to the salon to replace the glass.

After a while, he also took a photo of Y/L/N looking out the window and showing her left profile in the frame. Pierre then thought that he had never seen a more beautiful woman in his entire life.

He encouraged the girl to give him her phone number, which she didn't want to do at first because he wouldn't remember her the next day anyway, and Charles was looking at them strangely. I mean, he was looking pityingly at Gasly, not at her. He was the one who felt completely sorry for her being stuck with his friend in this situation.

“C'est mon domaine. Merci beaucoup pour le trajet, Charles," she said finally, and the brunette sighed in dissatisfaction. This is my estate. Thank you very much for the ride, Charles.

"Je te reverrai, n'est-ce pas?" asked the sad Frenchman, not wanting to let go of the brunette from his arms. Leclerc gave Y/N an apologetic look, and she had no option but to agree. We'll see each other again, right?

Y/L/N quickly said goodbye to the men and then got out of the car.

"Je pense que je suis amoureux, Charles," Pierre squealed as he watched the girl enter her cage. The Monegasque slapped him on the back of the head, muttering that he was an idiot. I think I'm in love, Charles.

In the meantime, the girl entered her apartment and leaned against the front door, then sat on the floor, and finally began to sob.

Her roommate, Eszter, heard her crying and immediately went to her best friend. The girl was perfectly aware of her entire afternoon and evening. She may have drunk all the wine herself, but it was almost alcohol-free, so she wasn't drunk at all (unlike Pierre).

"What's wrong, sweets?" Balog asked, crouching beside the younger girl.

“I met a guy whose wife ran away from the wedding and he was drunk as fuck and wanted my number, so I gave it to him, but it was a mistake, because he won't remember me tomorrow anyway. And at work this cunt had a problem with me and I cried and all, I'm fed up, I want to sleep." Esz barely understood anything of her friend's gibberish as she helped her up off the cold floor. She led her into the living room, then sat her down on the couch and gave her tissues.

"He was old and rich, wasn't he?" The brunette knew her platonic soulmate type very well, so she knew what to expect.

“He was maybe ten years older. And definitely rich. He showed me his Ferrari... And his friend who was driving us also had a Ferrari” Y/L/N dreamed, leaning against the back of the sofa. “But his fiancée ran away from the altar. Guess it's not that great. Or she was cheating on him. I don't know, I want to forget about it. Just like he does about me.

But Pierre did not forget. Same as Y/N about him.

#pierre gasly fluff #pierre gasly angst #pierre gasly x reader #pierre gasly x y/n #pierre gasly x you #pierre gasly fanfic #pierre gasly #formula 1 #pg10 #formula 1 x reader #formula 1 x you #formula 1 x y/n

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nonbinary-octopus · 4 days

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so my current 3D printing project is this: I am making a giant lego man

not super huge, just 5x regular lego size. It'll be about eight inches tall when complete

the reasons for this are, primarily, because it’s cool, and also. I just bought legos with my own adult money for the first time, and it turns out that lego people are for some reason considerably more expensive than lego bricks. I had a whole rant about it earlier that I'm not going to retype here, but the short version is, I did not buy any lego people

but then I went on thingiverse and I found a model for a large-scale lego person! (with this remix for better arms)

and I thought, that is very cool. I am going to make a giant lego person, who can sit on top of the lego box and guard the bricks

and then, because it would take quite a while to print the whole thing, I did a miniature test print at regular lego size, which is 20% of the original file size

it took about an hour

and he is a pretty good little lego man!

His head's a little loose, but not too bad. I had to reprint the hands cause I originally oriented them stupidly and they broke immediately, but once I redid them in a smarter position, they just took a little sanding of support droopies before they fit great.

The shoulders took some effort to pop into place, but I had expected that. On the rare occasion an arm came off of a lego person when I was a kid, I remember it being extremely difficult to put it back on. Once I got the arms in place and wiggled them back and forth a few times, they moved perfectly smoothly

The legs were trickier to attach to the hips, and one of them keeps angling itself oddly, so that he stands a bit pigeon-toed. If you mess with it too much, it will fall off.

Also the hips keep springing back out of the torso, which isn't great.

Based on this, plus a couple comments on thingiverse which said several connections were not working great, I knew I might need to make some adjustments. And to know exactly how it needed to be adjusted, I needed to print it at full scale

but I didn't want to spend several days printing, only to have to make adjustments and potentially have to reprint every file

so, first, I made a connection test file

I cut the individual pieces up into just their connection points: a slice of neck from the torso, and the bottom of the head. the shoulder pin on the arm, and the shoulder hole in the torso. The hip pin and hole. the wrist, and the entire hand because it's the smallest piece and didn't make nearly as much of a difference if I printed the whole thing. Plus, it rests on the hand on the buildplate, and it would be tricky to get just the hand post to print without including the hand

the first printing attempt spaghettified

it slipped horizontally not far in, and I suspect that caused the spaghetti, when it tried to print over somewhere that should have been supported and now wasnt. Can't be sure, because nobody saw it happen. My husband called me down to stop the printer when he noticed.

this is the shoulder hole and neck post

it wasn't a total waste, however. I was able to tell from what little had printed of the neck and head that the neck hole was far too large for the post.

So, I made an adjustment to the torso file, making the neck post larger, and restarted the test print with the new version. Unfortunately, restating meant that it went into the evening rather later than I had initially planned, sparking a conversation about what times of day would be most convenient for me to print things so as to not render the living room unhospitible (no hard feelings in either direction, it's just. a loud machine. and it can get annoying to listen to)

That test print went fine, and I was able to test all the fits

conclusions:

the neck now fits perfectly

the hand post is much too small for the wrist

the hip and shoulder joints are both too snug. I was able to force them together, but they will not rotate (they also now will not separate, and the layers around the shoulder hole split when forcing the shoulder pin inside)

so, back to the modeling program to make more adjustments. The simplest of these was to thicken the arm post

for the shouder, I measured all the bits and discovered that part of the problem is that the wall of the torso around the shoulder hole was thicker than the length of the pin before the flared head

in short, the pin was not long enough to reach all the way through the hole and have the flared head pop out on the other side

so, I lengthened the pin, and also put the slit on the flared head on the top as well as the bottom, for extra squishability

For the hips, they have a different pin shape than the shoulder, so I decided to replace it with the same mushroom-shaped kind of pin the shoulder has. I also widened the hole in the leg piece slightly.

You may notice that I didn't mention testing the hip-to-torso connection, despite noting that there was an issue on my initial miniature print. This is because in order to test it, I'd need to print a large enough portion of both the hip and torso pieces that I might as well print the whole thing, so I figured it would be better to get all the other connections correct first, and then adjust that one as need be.

I did take a look at it in the modeling program, however, and discovered that when assembled, the posts in the hips and the sides of the torso attempt to be in the same location. So I trimmed the hip posts to fit.

Then I printed all the altered files in miniature again, because that's a pretty quick test print

As I had hoped, the legs clicked on much better and more sturdily, and the hips fit into the torso much more securely as well.

The hands and head no longer fit at all, but I'd figured that would be the case as well, considering their fit on my initial test and my subsequent adjustments. I'd printed four hands when reprinting them earlier, testing two slightly different positions (the difference in results was negligible), so I used the extras for the new figure. I sanded down the neck post a bit to get the head to fit, and perhaps I should have sanded a bit more but I didn't feel like it

With that promising test, I prepared a new test print file to test the fit of all the adjusted parts at full scale (save the neck, already tested, and the hip-to-torso connection, will test later as explained earlier - so, just the hip and shoulder joints, and the hand, since I didn't change the wrist and can reuse it to test the new hand)

That's printing currently. Will update when it's done.

#original #lego maxifig #3D printing #my handiwork

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klaprisun · 21 days

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One Sunny Day

(Stardew Valley) (Haley x Female Farmer)

Chapter 9

For the rest of the afternoon, I went out fishing at the beach. I got used to being in the rain, so I decided to make some use out of the day and do something useful. Plus, I spent the rest of my cash on a hat from a mouse so I need to make more. I hear the fish bite well in Pelican Town, and a man named Willy will pay good money for what I catch. That or I could ship them out by putting them in the shipping box by my house.

By the time I had my fill of fishing, it was too late to bring them to Willy, so I decided to just bring the bucket home and ship them off.

I was feeling exhausted once again by the time I made it home. I really need to build my stamina on this farm if I get worn out by a little fishing. Or maybe I should bring a snack next time?

Later that night, while I tried to fall asleep, I couldn’t stop the overwhelming amount of thoughts going through my head.

Why did she kick me out all of a sudden? What did I do to upset her?

I couldn’t stop thinking about Haley. She has been a weird one since I moved here, but Elliot says she isn’t usually like this?

With each toss and turn in the night, I just couldn’t fall asleep. As tired as I was, my body just wouldn’t let me pass out. I decide to get out of bed and rummage around in the snacks I bought from Pierre’s. I ended up putting the bags on the floor after all because I never did get anything to put them in.

I slump down to the floor and lean against the wall in sorrow while slowly chewing my bite of plain bread.

I hadn’t even noticed, but I managed to finally get to sleep after finishing half a loaf of bread. I had startled myself with waking up on the floor against the wall because that’s not something I normally do.

Looking across the house and out the window, it is a beautiful sunny day. A perfect day to grab those overalls and water my crops. Tossing on some work clothes, I ran outside with the watering can, eager to get the day started.

The flag on my mailbox stands high and mighty this morning, signaling I have received more mail. Reaching in, I pull out the letter that was stuffed in it.

Tomorrow we’re holding the Egg Festival in town square.

You should arrive between 9am and 2pm if you’d like to attend. You wouldn’t want to miss the annual egg hunt!

-Mayor Lewis

“That will be interesting. Hopefully I don’t sleep in.” I fold the letter up and toss it in my pocket. I also notice there is an envelope of cash sitting in the mailbox as well. It was my payment for the bunch of fish I put in last night. “I’ll make sure to put that away later,” I made a mental note.

Now it’s time to water those crops. Already, I notice they are sprouting out of the soil. I must’ve done something right then if they’ve gotten this far.

5 cans of water later, the crops are all watered and refreshed. I had also tossed my overalls back in my house too before it decides to rain again.

Fishing sounds like a great idea again to pass the time, so I walk my way back to the beach, but when I arrive, Haley is standing alone in the sand. She seems to be crying.

“Hey Haley. What’s wrong?” I inquire as I approach her.

“I lost my grandmother’s bracelet she gave me. I had it here with me on the beach, and now it’s gone,” She breaks out into sobs as she previously was before I showed up.

“I’m really sorry…” I try to console her.

She sighs, “Maybe it'll wash up on another shore. I can't bear to think of it at the bottom of the ocean."

Before she can say anything else, I take off strolling across the beach. Haley stares after me, remaining in place.

“Where are you going?” she questions. She is no longer crying, instead she has a puzzled look as she watches me.

I walk backwards to look at her, hands in my pockets, and give her a nonchalant shrug and smile. I am going to look for her bracelet.

I scan every inch of the sand as well as along the shoreline. I can’t manage to find it until I walk around the right side of Elliot’s beach cabin. Haley can’t see me from here, but I bend over and pick something up.

She is still watching me as I walk back to her across the beach, hands still placed in my pocket. She just frowns at me as I give her a smug smile.

Taking my hand out of my pocket, I open my fingers and lay my hand open flat, revealing a golden bracelet with a blue gem.

Haley gasps at the sight of it and scoops it up immediately. Holding the bracelet tight in her hand, she jumps up and wraps her arms around my neck.

“Thank you so much. I won’t forget what you’ve done for me,” she mutters softly. The hug had me taken aback. It took me a moment to process, but when I finally understood what was happening, I wrapped my arms around her to return the hug.

“May I ask what you were doing over there?” I chuckle

“I saw a really nice shell. I had to go pick it up and look at it,” she replies sheepishly.

We continue hugging for a little bit longer, neither of us breaking apart. It leaves me extra confused when I think about our last interaction.

She finally pulls back from me when she realizes how long she spent hugging me. I look down at her to see if I can judge how she is feeling and she shyly tucks a piece of her beautiful, golden hair behind her ear. She isn’t making eye contact with me though, she is too busy looking at the ground.

“Anyways, I’ll see you at the Egg Festival tomorrow, right?” she asks.

“Of course you will. We always end up seeing each other, don’t we?” I remark sarcastically.

“You’re not as funny as you think you are. You do realize that?” she chirps back playfully.

“I like to think I’m pretty funny.”

“Is that why girls always fall in love with you?”

“Pardon me?” I am visibly taken aback from her comment.

“I overheard you talking to Elliot the other day…sorry,” she smacks herself in the forehead as if the previous words just slipped out of her mouth by accident.

I try to ease her embarrassment by giving her a genuine response, “I mean… It probably is the reason a girl would like me, yeah. Among others I hope. I don’t want to be their personal comedian. I don’t have anyone to ask though so I guess I’ll never know.”

“No one to ask? You haven’t dated anyone before?”

“Nope. No one. Had a few one night stands though…” I trail off as I notice Haley’s face drop, “...umm… what’s that face for?”

She takes another step back from me and I see her eyes start watering. She quickly wipes them away hoping I didn’t notice and clears her throat. “What face? I didn’t make a face. You’re seeing things,” she is now acting as if she has been as cool as a cucumber this whole time.

I scratch my head awkwardly, unsure of what to say next. I finally landed on flipping the conversation back to her, “What about you? What’s your love life like? You and Alex seem pretty close.”

That was a big mistake. The tears start welling up along her waterline and they manage to escape this time.

“It’s complicated.” is all she spits out.

“Trouble in paradise?” I respond empathetically. I try to place a hand on her shoulder and she pushes it away.

“You could say that.”

Taking the hints, I decided to stop prying and changed the topic immediately, “We are supposed to have great weather tomorrow for the festival!” I think those are the lamest words I have ever uttered in my life.

Haley bursts out laughing like it’s the funniest thing she has ever heard. The tears of sadness turn to tears of laughter. Her laughter is so contagious, it gets me laughing with her.

“That was the lamest attempt at a conversation change I have ever seen,” she explodes with more laughter. I wasn’t the only one to think that I guess.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to say!” I continue to laugh.

Our laughter dies down, and she turns and starts to leave. Before she walks away though she calls back to me, “I will see you tomorrow in the nice weather at the Egg Festival.”

I stick my tongue out at her and she does it right back. Haley is a huge whirlwind of emotions.

17 notes · View notes

lostfirefly · 4 months

Text

You’ve Got the Same Dream as Me (Ch.8)

Hello, kiddos! The idea for this fanfic came to me from a dream (again) I had about a month ago. Тhe main characters were T. Cruise & H.Cavill (don't ask me why), but with a light hand they have been replaced. The main action of the dream took place somewhere in the sands. Аlthough this fanfic will feature Sir Crocodile and our beloved Buggy, the action shifts to the desert. No marines, ships etc. The devil fruit's abilities are preserved. Catch the Mummy and Indiana Jones vibes :) Different titles and names from the original source material will be used to emphasise the general OP's vibe.

Since English is not my native language, errors may occur. As always, feel free to share your thoughts :)

And thank you to my dear @yujo-nishimura and @laurasoretta for believing in me :)

Description: Catherine, a librarian who is searching for the trail of her sister who went missing on an expedition. Notes in books and diaries lead her to Cairo. There she finds a retailer from an artifact shop who, in exchange for selling her a map and equipment, insists that Catherine take her along. They get into a little (or maybe a big) adventure..

Warnings: Catherine is still angry about the phrase Buggy said in Ch. 7 (he's a vulnerable idiot). That's why she can be a little annoying. F words. Croco x OC are two assholes. Adventures and fun are still here. Buggy x OC, Sir Crocodile x OC. Hope you enjoy it!

Words: 3262 (omg!)

The title is taken from «You've Got the Same Dream as Me» (Sonya Belousova & Giona Ostinelli) (One Piece, Netflix)

Taglist: @gingernut1314

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

• Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7

✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

"Oh, hi, sister!"

"Oh, hi, sister? Jules, are you fucking kidding me? You’ve been missing for almost two months, I come looking for you, and all you can say is, "oh, hi, sister"? Catherine could hardly contain her anger and slowly approached Jules. "What are you doing here? And why are you with the beehive?"

"Well, after breaking up with Pete, I decided to go on an expedition to clear my head.. There I met a man with a funny haircut in the shape of a three. He offered me an interesting case and good money. And this nice man is his boss", brown-haired girl said with a smile.

"Oh, God! Could you please shut up?" Rika said with annoyance. She walked up to Jules and pushed her towards Catherine. "Welcome to the team of misfits."

"Heeey", Jules squealed.

"All right, ladies and the clown. Enough of this chit-chat and all this drama. Now you put your brains together, if you have them, read your maps, your diaries, and tell us where we're going next."

Crocodile approached Rika.

"You've done a great job, my love. Look and learn, clown, what kind of woman you should choose", Crocodile said with a sneer and kissed Rika again eagerly.

"Thank you! But I want to remind you that you hurt me at that old man's house," Rika returned the kiss.

"It's still ew", Catherine said with disgust.

"Oh, fuck! You've tired me out this week," Rika stopped kissing Crocodile, approached Catherine and grabbed her shoulder. "You know how many times I wanted to punch you in your pretty face, so you'd finally shut up. Now be a good girl, go back to your loser's place and do what you've just been told."

"And when did you have time to contact Crocodile, Rika?" Buggy asked, taking Catherine’s hand and leading her behind him.

"About a month ago, why? Do you feel bad about me not being with you or something? No, thanks. I found the real man."

"Hell, please, no. Just curious. I don't understand why you need me."

"Oh, are you trying to sneak out, my clown boy? Well, somebody had to get us in here. Crocodile doesn’t know the exact way, and you've been here before, albeit from the other side, and you have our box. Plus, I knew you'd fall for the treasure and, obviously, the girl. So. Sorry, buddy."

"Will someone tell me what's going on here?" suddenly asked Jules and glanced at Buggy, "and who are you?"

"They are," Catherine pointed at Crocodile and Rika, "two bastards. And that brown-haired bitch I met at the airport. She gave me a flight ticket. And he..."

"What do you mean, she gave you the ticket?" Buggy interrupted Catherine and looked at her in surprise. "Did you just take the fucking ticket out of that girl's hand? Did you really think a random stranger would just give it to you?"

"Well...," she looked at him with round eyes and shrugged.

"God, you're even dumber than I am," he rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Oh, yeah! And this is coming from the 'I don't need a plan' person," Catherine mocked Buggy, standing behind his back.

"That's enough!" Crocodile stepped closer to them. "Listen, clown. Please tell your girl and her sister to tell us where we need to go. Otherwise…"

He grabbed Jules with his hook.

"Okay, okay!" Catherine said, "I'll do what you want. Just don't touch her".

"Catherine, don't!" Buggy hissed.

"I’m not gonna let some guy with the hook hurt my sister or you," - she said in a whisper and blushed slightly. "Come on, Jules. Let's take a look at the map".

"Good girls. Laura, honey, stand next to that fucking clown. He's got powers and he could easily make a run for it," Crocodile sat on the floor and lit a cigar.

"As you wish, boss."

Catherine and Jules sat on the cold rocks, shining flashlights on the map and diary entries. A light breeze walked through the space. They spent a long time going over the pages with their hands.

"Look," Catherine pointed to the coordinates in the diary. "We were here, here, and here. I think we're here now, right? The map’s drawn the path."

"First of all, I'm shocked at what's happening. What's going on? Second of all, what do you mean, the map's drawn a path? And third," Jules smiled wryly, "who's that guy with the red nose?"

"Fuck! I'm begging you, let's first get out of this fucking cave or wherever we are now. This is all your fault. If you hadn't disappeared, I wouldn't have come here and I'd be sitting at home with coffee right now, and everything would be fine."

"Hey, I apologize for interrupting your family drama, but did you find anything?" Buggy squatted down next to them.

"Not yet. Why are you asking? Oh, you're worried you're gonna miss out on the treasure now? And then you can't get a girl for one night at the bar?" Catherine mumbled, turning the pages.

"Why are you so mad?" he asked in surprise.

"I'm not... I don't care about you and your late-sex life, actually. You could go out and fuck every girl in town in one night."

"Oh, wow, right to the heart!" he exclaimed in a mocking tone, but he changed it quickly. "Hey, listen. About what I said.. I want to ap--"

"How much longer are you going to suffer bullshit?" Crocodile asked with annoyance. "Any news?"

"Don't yell at me, the beehive! No upd.. Uh, wait. Buggy, hold the flashlight, please", Catherine ran her hand over the sheets and mumbled something to herself. "Hey, the hook man. Do you have the book with you?"

"Of course. Laura, give it to her," Crocodile said with a low voice.

Laura went to the bag, pulled out the book and handed it to Catherine.

"Thank you, bitch," Catherine barked.

Reconciling the entries in the book and in her diary, Catherine continued to mutter something to herself and surveyed the space. She ran the fingers of one hand over the pages, the other hand drawing some shapes in the air.

"What is she doing?" Jules asked Buggy with a whisper.

"I have no idea, I thought you knew. She’s your sister."

Rika and Crocodile watched Catherine's strange movements intently.

"I got it!" - Catherine jumped up abruptly, grabbing the book and diaries and walked quickly forward. "Jules, look at the map. Are there any changes now?"

"I see nothing," Jules said, looking closely at the map.

"Honey, you'd better tell us where to go next," Crocodile walked over to Catherine and took her firmly by the neck.

"Hey, let her go," Buggy walked over to Crocodile.

"Or what? All right, I can't cut you. But I can cut her. I can cut her sister. Or kill. You're not in a very good position right now, clown. So, save your heroics for some petty squabbling amongst lowlifes like you."

"You can threaten me as much as you want, I don't give a shit about it. But if you lay one finger or your hook on either of them…"

"Then what? Are you gonna kill me?" at that moment, Crocodile's hand began to turn to sand.

"Stop! Please!" Catherine took Buggy's hand and gave him a hard look. "It's okay. I’m fine. Anyway, the beehive, I have bad news for you. The map is useless now until we get out of here. It only points the way in daylight and, as I understand it, in direct sunlight. So, we'll follow the path where the road is drawn now, and if there's nothing further, we'll go blind."

Rika came over to Jules and looked at the map.

"I hate to break it to you, my love, but that bitch is right. So far, the path's partially drawn. I don't know why the fucking thing didn't draw it all the way through. You're not so stupid, are you, Catherine?"

Catherine rolled her eyes and started packing.

"What was that? His hand turned to sand. And what does that big man mean when he said he can't cut that guy?" she asked with horror in her voice.

"Ah, it's a side effect of the devil fruit," Catherine waved her hand, "I'll tell you later."

⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥫⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭⥭

They walked along the winding rocky paths for over an hour, lighting the way with torches. The wind continued to blow through the cave, bringing smells of damp and rot.

"God, I don't want to die in a cave and lie here like some pharaoh", Jules muttered to herself, shifting her feet heavily, "And at first that man with the hook seemed so nice."

"Bastards always seem nice at first. Don't they, Buggy?" Catherine cast a glance at the clown and adjusted her bag.

"If you have a problem with me, cotton candy, just say so," he said in a surprisingly calm tone.

"I don't have a problem with you, and I don't want to talk to you," she snapped.

Jules looked at them questioningly.

"But you keep doing it, Cathie-pie", he said with a slight irony in his voice. "One minute you're mad at me, and the next..."

"Shut up, please, I hate you," she interrupted him with a quiet growl. "Shit, if you knew how much you piss me off, silly clown, I'd.... Ouch!"

Catherine didn't realize she'd hit a stone wall.

"What the hell?" she touched the space in front of her.

"Are you okay?" Buggy put his hand on her back.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine... But..."

"What happened?" Crocodile's voice came from behind her. "Where are we?"

"I don't know...," Catherine shone the torch on the wall. "We couldn't have lost our way. We could have taken a wrong turn… in theory... There are a million paths."

"We could have taken a wrong turn, huh? Are you kidding me?" Rika took two big steps and grabbed Catherine's arm. "I swear to God, I'll rip your head off if you take us down the wrong path."

"Get your crocodile hands off me!" Catherine tried to throw off Rika’s hand. "We're in a bloody ancient cave in the middle of Egypt. You think there's only one way in a cave like this? I’m really sorry that it's not lit up like a fucking highway. Just give me a minute. Jules, the map!"

Rika let go of Сatherine's hand and continued to stand by her side.

"That's why I love you, baby. For your temper," Crocodile walked over to Rika and put his arm around her waist.

"It’s still ew, by the way," Catherine snorted and stared at the map. "Jules, the diary! Buggy, please, hold the torch. One more riddle is written here..."

Check the wall, and touch the floor,

It can help to open the door.

You'll be helped by a pillar of fire.

Just take it up a notch higher.

"And what does it mean?" Crocodile asked.

"Well, you're supposed to be the smartest guy here, so think about it", Catherine said mockingly.

"I'm sick of you!" Crocodile hissed. "Laura, I think our redheaded smarty-pants is a little out of touch. Maybe a gun would help. Will you please point that pretty thing at her little sister?"

Laura took out a gun, cocked the slide and put it to Jules' temple.

"You’re truly a piece of shit," Catherine whispered. "If the four of you want to get to the treasure, shooting somewhere in the dungeon is not recommended. You'll turn to sand and escape, the clown will fall to pieces and escape too, and the four of us will be crushed by something heavy. No offense, but that's not how I pictured my demise."

"Very funny, yes," Crocodile grinned. "Now go to your blue-haired friend and open the door."

"Check the wall, and touch the floor.. a pillar of fire. Jules, Buggy, obviously, we need to check the walls and floor with the torch or the flashlight, there must be some clues there," Catherine said this with undisguised admiration.

"I think you're beginning to like this whole treasure hunting thing," Buggy said with a grin.

"No, I just want to go home and be away from you," Catherine tried to sound serious.

With the torch, Jules and Buggy lit every millimetre of the wall. Catherine sat on her knees and ran her hands over the floor.

“You know, Crocodile, I know you're kind of mafia, but maybe you could help. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner you can get your gold”, Catherine said, probing the stone tiles in the darkness. “Check those rocks you're standing on, please.”

Crocodile snorted. Rika nodded her head slightly and they began to check the floor beneath them.

"There are some drawings here," Rika said.

"Yeah, and there are some on the wall, too," Jules mumbled.

Catherine sat down on the stone floor, Crocodile sat next to her. They both stared at the book. Rika and Buggy watched them both warily.

"Look, the hook, you see, one of the slabs in the book is marked with a sign. That's how the ancient Egyptians labelled something like a button, if I'm not mistaken."

"Buttons? To what?" Crocodile looked at Catherine questioningly.

"I don't know. Maybe it's your treasure behind the door, maybe it's sarcophagi with mummies or a bunch of man-eating scarabs. But you see, there's a drawing here. It's a diagram. We have to click on the pictures on the wall and the floor in the right order, I guess... But we need to find some kind of lever that activates it all."

"And if we press in the wrong order, then what?" Crocodile asked in a quiet voice.

"Well, then we have a good chance of turning into mummies, and in a few hundred years local kids will be scared with scary stories about us." Catherine said, barely containing a nervous laugh. "Yes, I've always dreamed of dying next to the sandman and the clown."

Crocodile stood up and offered Catherine his hand.

"Thanks, I guess," she said with surprise in her voice. "Okay, guys, we need to find a lever, a big button or something..."

Catherine and Crocodile continued to look at the book and diary while Laura, Rika, Buggy and Jules were exanimating the walls and floor.

"People, there's another sign here," Laura said, lighting an obscure symbol with her torch.

"Wait, that's...," Catherine sat down next to her, "it's Seth's sign."

"How is Seth?" Crocodile asked.

"God, сome on! You're in Egypt. It's an Egyptian god."

"Then what do these symbols mean?" Jules' voice came from the wall.

Catherine approached her.

"Jules, sister, hold the book. Buggy, hold the torch and the diary," she began to run her hands over the wall and the pages again, muttering something to herself.

"Anything?" Rika asked, coming up behind her.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, don't distract me," Catherine waved her hand away. "Guys, I get it. Look, these aren't just symbols. It's a puzzle. But not just a puzzle, a puzzle of myth. And a note that says "Beware of Seth".

"What myth?" Buggy asked in surprise.

"Osiris and Isis," Catherine said affirmatively.

"And what's it about?" Laura asked and Rika said together.

"Come on! Seth killed Osiris, Isis' husband, chopped him up and hid him in different places. Buggy, by the way, if you bother me, I'll do the same to you," she said with a slight smile.

"I'm sorry, what?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Isis went in search of her husband's parts. The symbols on the wall and floor match the ones in the book. And if you look in the diary, you'll know in what order to press the buttons."

"But what does this have to do with Seth?" Laura asked. "You know, I don't know much about all these Egyptian myths, but it seems to me that if something is mentioned in the text, you should take it into account."

"Seth is the god of storms and deserts, that doesn't make sense," Jules said.

"But he was also considered the god of deception," Catherine whispered. "We need to press these slabs in reverse order. We have to find the lever and then start this infernal mythological machine."

"There's something like a wheel in here, but to be honest, I don't really want to touch it," Jules said with excitement in her voice, pointing to a small object.

Crocodile and Buggy approached the wheel. Turning it a few times they both looked round.

"And now what?" Crocodile asked.

Catherine looked at the book and started pointing with her hand.

"Now we have to press the slabs in reverse order, that's what Laura, you over here, Jules, you over here, Rika, you on that slab, you two stand over there at those two slabs closer together. Just in case there's a door, of course."

She sat down on the ground, put the book next to her, and started rambling again.

-Feet.. Arms... Body... Arms... Legs. Okay, first brown-haired bitch Rika. Then Jules. No, no, no, no.. first Laura. Then Rika. Then Jules. Then beehive. Then Buggy."

In that order, everyone pressed the slabs.

"And what? Nothing happens. Are you sure you got it right?" Buggy asked with a distinct annoyance in his voice.

"I-I.. I don't know, I hope so."

"If you decided to trick us...," Rika moved with a quick step towards Catherine.

Suddenly they heard a strange noise and the floor started to wobble.

"Please tell me it was you who ran so hard," Catherine said with fear in her voice, getting up from the floor. "Oh-oh, that's not good."

Slowly the walls began to fall down. The floor began to move more and more.

"What's with the door?" Rika shouted.

"It won't open," Jules hit the wall with her hand.

"Oh-oh, that's too bad!" Catherine looked around, dazed with shock.

"Are you sure you read it right?" shouted Crocodile.

"Do you really have to ask that now?" Catherine yelled back.

The heavy stone door began to open slowly. Crocodile and Buggy tried to pull it to move it, but to no avail.

"Yes! Yes! It's opening!! Hurry!" Jules took Laura's hand, and they slipped through the narrow passage.

"Catherine, hurry!" Rika grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the door.

The floor began to slowly collapse. From the bottom of the cave came the muffled sounds of stone hitting stone. Catherine noticed the book that had been left on the floor.

"The book!" she broke free of Rika's grip and ran to get it.

"Rika!" Crocodile turned into sand and picked Rika up.

"Oh, Catherine, this was a bad idea. That's the dumbest idea ever," she muttered to herself as she watched the floor fall down in bigger and bigger chunks.

Suddenly, she felt someone pick her up and book.

"You will be the death of me, cotton candy!" Buggy's flying torso threw her on his shoulder and carried her to the door.

"Damn you and your chop chop abilities," she said, exhaling as she watched the remnants of the floor fall into the abyss of the cave.

As soon as everyone was behind the door, it closed.

"Is everyone alive?" Rika asked, lighting a torch from the wall.

"I think so," Laura and Jules squeaked in unison somewhere.

Buggy lowered Catherine to the ground and put his body back on his feet. She looked around.

"Well. I have two bits of news. One, we're all alive. The second is that the way back is cut off".

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soylent-crocodile · 9 months

Text

Magura (Monster)

(Realistic Magmar by Namh on Deviantart)

(I mentioned these earlier in @thecreaturecodex's ask box before we started actually talking, and here they are, published to tumblr! Magura started as a servitor race for the Great Old One Cthugha, who is relevant to a character from my Strange Aeons game, and was inspired by the pokemon Magmar, even if it quickly spiraled in its own direction.)

CR9 NE Medium Aberration (Fire)

Magura are a race of intelligent, omnicidal beings who seek to cleanse the universe of life through the detonation of stars. They travel through space on massive fiery skiffs powered by solar sails on a search for stellar systems to annihilate. An average magura citizen is a scholar of these astral detonations and of alien technology, being well-versed in arcane secrets and occult philosophies about destruction, the planes, and fire. Despite this, many magura are spiritual, and the worship of fiends and outer gods (particularly daemons) is a common part of magura societies.

Magura philosophy understands the material plane, if not creation itself, as a mistake on the part of the gods- a material existence can only lead to suffering, as interpersonal connections and material goods are lost, destroyed, or simply fade to the sands of time. Their answer to this philosophical quandary is to destroy the material plane by snuffing out stars one by one. True to their beliefs, magura do not collect material possessions for any purpose other than practical use, and even then, many destroy or dispose of tools even if there’s a potential future use, much like other mortals have the opposite affinity.

Magura bodies subsist on solar energy in a process not unlike photosynthesis, though with different chemical pathways. Magura appreciate the irony that they rely on the stars they destroy to move and survive, and acknowledge that the completion of their goal will cause the extinction of their race- this is a sacrifice they are comfortable making, especially as it’s rather far into the future.

Magura leaders are called Magura Guides. Magura Guides can cast spells as an 8th level wizard, and often advance their levels in Wizard or Rogue.

This man-sized creature resembles an upright reptile, but its head has a pointed beak and is covered in large, bulbous growths. Misc- CR9 NE Medium Aberration (Fire) HD14 Init:+7 Senses: Perception:+15 Aura: Flamestoke 60ft Stats- Str:21(+5) Dex:17(+3) Con:17(+4) Int:22(+6) Wis:16(+3) Cha:18(+4) BAB:+10/+5 Space:5ft Reach:5ft Defense- HP:119(14d8+28) AC:22(+3 Dexterity, +13 Natural, +6 Deflection) Fort:+10 Ref:+7 Will:+12 CMD:28 Resist: Acid 5, Electricity 5 Immunity: Fire, Disease Weakness: Vulnerable to Cold Special Defenses: Heat Shimmer Offense- 2 Claw +16(1d6+5 plus Burn) CMB:+15 Speed:30ft Special Attacks: Burn (2d6, DC19) Feats- Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Power Attack (-3/+6), Combat Expertise (-3/+6), Improved Dirty Trick, Greater Dirty Trick, Improved Feint, Weapon Focus (Claw) Skills- Acrobatics +15, Bluff +12, Escape Artist +9. Fly +15, Heal +6. Knowledge (Arcana) +10, Knowledge (Planes) +14, Linguistics +10, Perception +15, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +18, Stealth +15, Use Magic Device +13 Spell-like Abilities- (Caster Level 10, Concentration +14) Burning Gaze (DC15) /constant Fireball (DC17), Major Image 3/day Special Qualities- No breath Ecology- Environment- Space (Hot) Languages- Ignan Organization- Solitary, Wave (4-6 Magura, 1 Magura Guide) Treasure- None Special Abilities- Convection Flight (Ex)- In areas of intense heat, magura are particularly buoyant; they gain a fly speed of 40ft and a maneuverability of average. Flamestoke Aura (Su)- Mundane fires around a magura are empowered by a magura’s internal heat. The Reflex DC to avoid or put out a mundane fire within a flamestoke aura increases to 18, and the damage dealt increases to 2d6. Heat Shimmer (Su)- A magura’s internal heat warps the air around it, causing a visual distortion. Magura have concealment (50% miss chance) against ranged attacks and a deflection bonus to AC equal to its intelligence modifier. Creatures with the fire subtype can see through this effect.

#soylent original #any setting #monsters and races #cosmic horror #stars #aliens #homebrew #pokemon #magmar

53 notes · View notes

burgerdrome · 2 months

Note

Are you still a fan of Warhammer? I hope it’s been long enough that you aren’t scared of this restarting anything but like, I’m a fan myself and everyone I know is also one, and your article gave me some uncomfortable feelings of “what’s the woke way to enjoy this” lol

Hello! Thank you for the delightful question and thank you also for allowing me to be part of the authentic Tumblr experience of receiving an inbox message from a questionable username.

So I guess I think the question about whether there's a "woke way" to enjoy Warhammer is an unhelpful way to think about it (or about anything). It's okay to enjoy a pretend game about silly clanking armoured men just in the same way it's okay to enjoy a pretend video game where you drive a car over the speed limit.

I think a lot of leftists get caught up in ethical hand-wringing and sort of paralysed by how to move forward with something but the reality of participation in a capitalist system is that while you can be conscientious about your choices, at the end of the day you still have to, you know, make those choices. There isn't a perfect way to do it - there is no ethical consumption under capitalism!

One of the great things about the Warhammer hobby - hell, just about all tabletop gaming hobbies - is that the companies who make the products simply cannot stop you from buying them, building them, and playing with them in the way that you want. The fact that Warhammer (hell, D&D too, etc) is essentially imagination layered on top of painted bits of plastic means that the barrier to entry, and the conditions under which a corporation can control your entry, are astonishingly low.

But of course this means that a huge chunk of potential profit is going missing. One of the big ways that Games Workshop - hell, just about all tabletop gaming companies, really - has tried to maximise their profits in recent years has been to attempt to normalise the idea that to "play Warhammer" is to engage in brand loyalty rather than personal creativity - in other words, to own as much of your potential hobby ecosystem as possible.

Purchase your official Warhammer model from the official Warhammer store (good luck getting a pre-order from a local games store which has been deliberately understocked!), clip it from the sprue using official Citadel clippers, glue it with Citadel plastic glue while you're watching the official Warhammer Plus "loremasters" show, basecoat it with Citadel spray, make sure to play it using the new rules we released 3 months ago and which we will update in another book in 3 months time (which you will need to buy, you don't want to miss out!) etc, etc, etc. Deeply tiresome shit.

(Illustrative side note: Recently I saw a post on Facebook marketplace with someone saying "Can someone sell me a pair of Citadel clippers, my last ones broke!" Someone immediately responded to recommend going to buy a pair at Bunnings for $5, and the person legitimately had to be convinced that they were the same product and weren't going to, in some way, "hurt" the models.)

Of course while GW has a long history of trying to trick baffled Christmas aunties into buying spray paint from their stores for $30 instead of from Bunnings for $10, when I got into Warhammer in 1997 DIY creativity was explicitly encouraged and that was pretty much the whole point - Games Workshop literally published books telling you to go to construction sites to find basing sand, to repurpose old cardboard boxes to make buildings and walls, to use guitar strings to make power cables, to write your own missions, to invent your own Chapters (with rules to do so), to build your own characters and leaders, etc, etc. And I did! And it kicked ass.

The old codexes are full of examples of people scratchbuilding whole terrain sets, converting up models for characters that GW couldn't be arsed to provide - that sort of "make it your own! exercise your creativity!" ethos was baked into the very DNA of the hobby, and it has always stuck with me, even as GW has tried to backpedal away from it and focus on "how well can YOU paint OUR kits?"

So now for me I look at Warhammer the same way I might look at an art supply store. Yes I can buy one particular brand of paint or one particular brand of canvas when looking at doing up a new watercolour, but ultimately it's about picking what I think is going to allow me to exercise my creativity the most, or what I enjoy working with.

And when I do throw dice (I am a busy full-time employee with a mortgage and now mostly play small scale Kill Team skirmish games) I play against extremely chill people who have straight-up 3D printed accessories or whole models, or play in my local games club on old Malifaux terrain on a third party game mat, or whatever.

I buy all my models second hand online or purchase out-of-production things at swap meets. I use third-party paints and brushes, and 3D print up conversion parts that I need which I purchase online. I engage with the hobby on my terms and look at it as a way to express my own creativity, or as a series of building blocks to assemble in whichever way I see fit, because that's what makes me happy. Ultimately Games Workshop's colour schemes, lore, etc are (and only ever can be) suggestions - the only difference is that they used to explicitly tell you as much and encourage you to play around, and now they strongly encourage the opposite.

This isn't to cast shade on anyone who just buys GW models and paints them with GW paints or whatever. Doing that isn't somehow a fascist act or a one way ticket to Cancel Jail. They make some nice fucking models! And tbqh their Contrast paints are the best in class for that sort of thing (Army Builder "Speed Paint" ones suck ass).

Buying little toy dolls from companies (at least companies which aren't openly funding genocide) is only a problem if we do so uncritically or treat those little toy dolls as sacred idols and allow them to consume our personalities. That's when you end up with weird right-wing 40K Lore Youtubers with aquila tattoos.

#warhammer 40000 #kill team #warhammer #games workshop #wh40k #blog

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theinstagrahame · 9 months

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It's time for the Monthly-ish Mail Call Hype Post!

Another set of awesome games I've gotten in the mail, and why I'm hype about them. Because people out there making rad stuff and I'm super into it!

It was a pretty big month. A lot of stuff arriving coincidentally at the same time, not all from crowdfunds, but still a really exciting collection. Let's dive in!

Beam Saber: I've played this one, and just started a campaign. Plus listening to Friends at the Table play it in Partizan (Which I legitimately cannot recommend highly enough). Mech Anime Forged in the Dark! It's genuinely a fantastic game.

Coriolis: A friend in a Discord server was clearing some room on their shelves before moving, and offered a few titles up. I wound up with three of them, this and the next two. Initially, they told me the box would only fit two, so I debated between Coriolis and DCC, and ultimately picked Coriolis because the sci-fi universe it takes place in seemed unique compared to what I've really experienced. An exploration-driven, Middle Eastern-inspired universe sounded really fascinating.

Dungeon Crawl Classics: I first became aware of DCC early in my TTRPG career, and was honestly mostly intrigued by DCC because of its use of Weird Dice; D3s and D5s and whatnot. I've heard mostly good things about it, and haven't done nearly enough Dungeon Crawling in my day, so I was quite pleased when it turned out this would also fit in the Discord Friend's "get it out of my house" box!

Last Fleet: This was the game I'd wanted from the pile. I'd recently backed Wreck this Deck, also by Black Armada, and have played Flotsam. I was intrigued by the pitch for this one, so it was the definite from the Discord friend.

Hull Breach: Mothership took the indie RPG scene by storm, and this book looked fantastic. I still haven't played Mothership, but honestly having this makes it feel like I could just about pick it up and throw anyone in. It's packed with scenarios and extra content, in a really great package.

Animon Story: I've been searching for the right Pokemon-themed RPG for a while. Too many of the ones I have seen spend a lot of time on the combat system, which I honestly find the least exciting part of the franchise. I want to explore and meet cool little guys. I confess I haven't read this one, but what I've heard of it sounds way more inspiring than most of the ones I've looked into.

The Hexcrawl Toolbox: I have The Bottled Sea and the Undying Sands from Games Omnivorous (Plus Vaults of Vaarn and Isle of Ixx). This box looks like an incredibly expansion of those ideas, and it's such a great package.

Enoch's Wake: Big fan of R. Rook games, ever since I had Richard on my (defunct) podcast to play a session of Moonlight over Roseville Beach. Enoch's Wake is a fresh take on a science-fantasy setting, and I really wanted to dig in and check it out more.

Sanctuary and Sentinel: I've followed Meghan Cross' work in the scene for a while, and it's all great. I love stories about lone sentinels guarding something long beyond the point of its relevance, and listening to how the two games intersect on Party of One really sold me that the Kickstarter had been a good investment.

The Book of Gaub: I will admit, I fall straight into peer pressure. I've heard about the Book of Gaub, heard all good things, and was really intrigued by the premise. It's honestly not even a game supplement per se, as much as it could function as an in-world text and concept, with annotations to make it usable in a game. The writing is fantastic, the art is great, and I really can't wait to find an excuse to bust it out. (I may or may not be trying to squeeze it into that Beam Saber campaign...)

Aberrant Reflections: Another that I'd heard really good things about, but also I had heard the words "puzzle dungeon" used pretty close to it, so I absolutely could not pass it up. It's been a great year for adventure content, so I am intrigued to get stuck into this one.

A Butterfly Dies and Cocoxoca: Primal Quest grabbed my attention because I don't feel like we see a ton of work in the stone age setting. A Butterfly Dies seemed like a really interesting premise, drawing on Mexican myths and murals to give a perspective on that world that I hadn't seen before. Cocoxoca was a pamphlet adventure that I thought would make a fantastic add-on.

Viva la Queer Bar: As someone starting to explore their queer identity, this was honestly a no-brainer. I'm honestly hoping this could be my first Descended from the Queen game played (I've got For the Queen, and have flipped through the cards, but still haven't brought it to the table). Again, heard incredible things about this game, so can't wait to check it out.

Guild: I did say earlier that I've not gotten enough dungeon crawlers in my background. I've been kicking around some Discords with Disaster Tourism in them, and have been watching this grow with interest. It came with so much stuff I really had to, packed a lot into two zines, a bookmark, and a tearaway pad.

#indie ttrpg #ttrpg #scifi rpg #indie ttrpgs #fantasy ttrpg #ttrpg hype post

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cutekittenlady · 3 months

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Tumblr Plays Pokemon White 2 - Part 10

Been running around Castelia Sewers and realized I'd never been in HERE before. Huh, maybe I should give it a shot.

Ohhh a cave. And as we all know where there are caves there are....

Well, yes, pokemon, but I was gonna say treasure. Sweet Rich Treasure. Of money. For me to find.

Or strange middle aged men.... that too.

After beating up the two middle aged man and one strange lady I caught a woobat and roggenrola for the dex before leaving to heal up my pokemon and get more supplies. Turns out Polux has the Run Away ability which makes getting away from unwanted wild pokemon battles way easier.

While putting Roggenrola in the box I saw it was holding an item; an everstone. I decide to pocket the thing just in case I might need it later.

((I buy some super repels to use in the Relic Passage. Drilbur won the encounter vote for this area, but they only appear in dust clouds and if I encounter a pokemon before reaching the dust cloud I lose the encounter. So I plan to use the repels to try to better my chances. Plus dust clouds can sometimes just have items like shards.))

Ohhh a Drilbur! These guys are pretty tough!

I start off with Polux and have him use a sand attack to lower drilburs accuracy. Aries thunderwave wont work this time to incapacitate the opponent since I'm pretty sure Drilbur must be a rock or ground type or something. I use sand attack several more times just to be sure and then ahve him use bite however Drilbur still manages to dodge and still manages to hitwith a mudslap lowering Polux's accuracy.

I send in Bentley in the hopes of landing a leech seed. WIth that I should be able to chip away at Drilburs health to make them easier to catch. Once Leech seed lands I send Polux back in and have him use quick attack. This gets Drilbur in the yellow and another leech seed gets their health even lower. I decide to try and use a heal ball this tiem around so that I can add Drilbur to the team right away. I only have one heal ball though, so its a risk.

I throw the ball but drilbur manages to get free. So much for that idea. Another leech seed gets drilbur in the red. I really want to catch this pokemon so I throw a great ball. Its the highest grade pokeball I've got and in the red like this its my only chance to catch Drilbur.

But Drilbur breaks out AGAIN! Leech Seed lowers its health a bit more. Now its only a sliver! One more leech seed is bound to take Drilbur out. This next great ball HAS to catch or else we lose the encounter!

I ready the ball.

I throw.

It shakes. Once. Twice. Thrice.

CAUGHT!

Phew this one was quite a struggle.

I opt to name her Dusty after the cloud of dirt we found her in.

NOw though I have to check her nature! After such a long hung and a difficult catch I REALLY hope shes compatible with the rest of the team!

Here we go, check the gangs natures...

Now checking Dusty's...

Serious! Looks like Dusty's here to stay!

I take a moment to check her moves and ability. She has Sand Rush which means she'll move even father in a sand storm! Something that is bound to come in handy in future. She also knows Rapid Spin, Mud-Slap, Fury Swipes, and Metal Claw which gives us some decent type coverage.

Welcome to the team Dusty!

Before leaving the relic passage I catch a Timburr and Onix for the Professors dex as well as a grimer out in the sewer. Checking the dex I can see that those are all the pokemon available in this area at the moment, so with a sigh of relief I had back to the pokemon center for a MUCH needed shower.

----

Alright after that shower I think its finally time to move on!

TO ROUTE 4

Oh god its the weirdo sewer guy. Aaaaa he's standing he front of the only road out of Castelia. Well the only road I walk on anyway. (Perfect urban planning my ass)

Maybe I can just slip past him? I mean he only saw me once, surely he won't be able to recognize me after only seeing me once in a dark dank sewer right?

SONNNOVA- Look buddy I don't have any loose change. I have some... water bottles? You want water bottles? You can't have the lemonade though. Thats mine.

... Pokemon being a euphemism for...?

Whoa whoa! I didn't say anything about cooperating!

Does it? I literally just caught it.

Hey, it's more than YOU have chump!

(Why am i getting so defensive with a weirdo sewer guy?)

.... That has GOT to be your real name because I can't imagine anyone picking it as a pseudonym. Also putting on a lab coat doesnt make you a scientist.

And this guy just goes off talking about how the "theme" of his research is 'bringing out the power of pokemon'. I don't really know what hes talking about because I tune him out. I really really just want to get past this guy.

So I hum and nod along and next thing I know I've agreed the battle the guy! He says he'll be waiting for me on Route 4.

CREEPY

I need to stiff one to settle my nerves.

I down the lemonade, get a couple of water bottles for the desert and then nerve myself up.

When I woke up today to beat up an artist and explore a sewer, I didn't think I was going to have to deal with someone wearing a weird hair piece cosplaying a scientist and living in a sewer but here I am.

#pokemon #tumblr plays pokemon #tumblr plays pokemon white 2 #white 2 #pokemon white 2 #pokemon playthrough #pokemon poll #pkmn b2w2 #b2w2 #pokemon black and white 2 #pokemon b2w2 #black 2 #pokemon black 2

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keshetchai · 3 months

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Fountain pen ink bottle: $4 /ea

pocket sized sketchbooks or notebooks $2 (yellow & brown strathmore drawing/sketch are bundled together for $2)

The three larger sketchbooks are all $5 /ea

various mini canvas packs $3 / ea

acrylic paint pad $8 BNNU

mixed media toned paper pad $6

gel print and roller $8

tortilla pencil roll $2

cheapie brushes bundle (seriously these are CHEAP brushes, they aren't good quality. they're meant for watercolor or acrylic, and I keep cheapies on hand for things like applying masking glue, gesso, spattering, yknow...there's all kinds of reasons why you want sort of terrible brushes. the handles can mix stuff. any time you might end up destroying the good brushes, these are the sacrificial lambs!) $3 for all of them.

brushes box $14 BNNU

brush washer, paint keys (bundle), sanding sponges, letters stencil, clip-on cups to hold medium -- $3 /ea

golden open acrylics set BN swatched and tested like once, got some oil paints on tube but otherwise great. this is the traditional colors set of 6. $30

palette paper (white) BNNU $8

soho, grumbacher, & turner watercolor bundle: $15

marie's gouaches bundle and storage box I had them in $6

Lukas gouache bundle $25

QOR watercolor (remaining paint in squeezed out tubes (1 tube missing), and the paint poured out into a funky pink pill box with a cool skeleton on the front and washi tape decoration. the watercolors left to dry in the pill box rewet nicely. $15

union square watercolor pad $6

Filofax Original A5 size organizer in Dark Aqua WITH loads of interior pages - some bought from an online etsy shop (in rainbow colors, "QUESTS" instead of "to-do lists" and "heart" boxes, plus regular white or colored lined papers as well. it's stuffed full!) No actual calendar pages but does have numbered dividers with tabs. $130

pencils box $2

that white palette $3

art supply carrier tote bag thingy $10. it does have like, graphite, pastel smudging on the insides and all of that, but honestly you're just going to add more, right?

NOTE ON GOUACHES AND WATERCOLORS:

I will not do returns for dried gouache or watercolor in the tubes. Some of them will need to be reworked! (like I can hear one of the marie's gouaches rattling inside the tube, lol)

The fix to a dried out or drying out watercolor/gouache is incredibly simple: add water. You can cut open the tube to act as a cup, or cut them open and pour them out into a plastic paint cub or reused glass/plastic cup with lid. or right into a palette. add just enough water to fully soak the dried paint. wait a few days for it to soften up. add more water as necessary. if it's still a bit thick, you can add a drop of plain glycerin to the paint and mix it in to help it retain the moisture it's soaking in. this will also make it easier to rewet as you go on.

I will say the lukas gouaches all appear squishy still in tubes, the acrylics are perfect, and the sohos/turner seem mostly fine, but there's some they may need re-constituting and the marie's may have some dry ones as well. lastly, the QOR's don't have much left actually inside the tubes, so you might want to cut the tubes open anyways to paint directly from. they're nice paints tho, and i of course am bundling with where i poured all the paint into.

also: sorry the lighting is weirdly yellowy. I laid out a white curtain that I am not currently using to try and take pictures on and it's just...this whole house has terrible lighting in every room lol. i promise you those curtains are white.

these can't be shipped media mail, so just keep that in mind!

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eruscreaminginthedistance · 5 months

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Book recs based on stuff I read in 2023

Nonfiction

Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer (2003) - it's outdated by about 20 years which leads to one hell of a jumpscare at the end, but I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested at all in Mormonism, high control groups, FLDS, and the history of abuse against women and girls in the LDS; it covers everything you need to know about the ways the LDS church has cultivated a paedophile/domestic abuse culture and it's fucking haunting and it's the most upset a book has ever made me

Black Tudors: The Untold Story by Miranda Kaufman (2017) - a really fun read; it's a collection of case studies of the real life Africans living or working in England during the Renaissance, with each chapter focusing on a different individual and what we know about them from parish records, legal documents etc. It's also a great primer on England's relationship with the slave trade and African nations from the 16th to 17th centuries. Also I listened to this on audiobook and the lady's voice is super soothing

Problematic gay rep

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (1956) - yeah okay turns out Baldwin is the GOAT of queer lit for a reason. I don't even like 20th century stuff but Baldwin can WRITE man I was sucked in! And David is the BLUEPRINT of problematic gay rep! I loved watching his awful decisions I hope he suffers eternally! It's a short and easy read and a classic for a reason do give it a chance

Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite/William Martin (1996) - I'm not sure if I'm deadnaming Martin here because I bought the book earlier this year and it was still being attributed to Poppy Z Brite so I guess it's being treated like an author pseudonym now? I think? Anyway, don't read this book unless you're a disgusting freak like me who enjoys torture porn. This book comes with every content warning under the sun and I had an AMAZING couple of afternoons reading this book. American Psycho, Jeffrey Dahmer and NBC Hannibal had a baby and Martin delivered it; it's a raw, twisted and angry scream into the void about AIDS, homeless queer youth, homophobia and cultural stigma, wrapped up in a bow made of intestines. I went into this book hoping to see people get tortured and came out of it quite melancholic with a lot to think about, and I accidentally got attached to the victim oops!

The Charioteer by Mary Renault (1953) - I was gonna make a non-problematic section just for this book but then I remembered all the rampant femmephobia xD and Ralph and Laurie would 100% be bootlicking gays against pride. This book personally isn't for me - it's a lot of love triangle nonsense - but I think the tumblr demographic is particularly primed for gay World War II love triangle stories, and it's a softer, happier love story than my other recs. Would recommend if you can get past the main characters being pick mes.

Manga

No Longer Human by Junji Ito (2019) - this is a story about being a bad person and ruining everyone's lives especially your own lol; I loved the original prose version, but Ito's spin of the story makes everything so much worse and if I hadn't literally read a book about irl paedophilia the month before I think this book would have put me in the angriest and most violent place I've been all year. Love gorgeous art? Love mental illness? Love despicable spineless main characters? Get on this

Other fiction

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (1980) - it took me a month to read this entire book. It's so self-indulgent and long winded and contrived and the big twist is laughable and I wouldn't have it any other way! It's just some old guy playing in his sand box with his little monk action figures and it's charming af. Plus the concept of a monastic murder mystery involving several orders of monks will never not be fun, and I'm biased towards the book cos my guess at the very start as to whodunnit was right >:) would recommend if you like Sherlock Holmes and long long diatribes about medieval Catholic geopolitics

Garth Marenghi's Terrortome by Garth Marenghi (2022) - this one's just a bit of a laff. The horror comedy ramblings of a man going stir crazy during COVID lockdowns. You don't need to have seen Garth Marenghi's Darkplace to understand the book but it is recommended if you can access it. Content warning for explicit man x typewriter

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (1962) - it's a modern day (relatively) witch story! Jackson was writing about and for all the weird autistic little girls out there with this one. It's a gothic murder mystery about two co-dependent sisters who are outcasts in their village. It was a great introduction to Jackson's work

#i've still got two more books to read before 2023 ends but I don't think they're gonna make the list so it's fine lol #books #reading #my reading #literature #bookblr #reading wrap up #book recommendations #book reccs

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fourseasonsfigs · 1 year

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Concert Twirl

This beautiful fig is inspired by one of my favorite moments in one of my favorite things - the Word of Honor Concert.

To explain how much I love this twirling concert intro, I have my phone lock screen set to this image:

It looks beautiful on the phone with the gorgeous swirly colors and the gorgeous swirly men, just saying.

Zhehan swirling/dancing/swift moving steps during his whole concert intro (and also moonwalking in the BTS) is just a perfect encapsulation of his personality, Gong Jun's personality in being game for whatever his Zhang Laoshi throws at him (in front of 7,000 people notwithstanding), and their caring and trusting relationship. I love it so much. I woke up at 3:30am Pacific Standard Time to watch both days of the concert live, knowing I wouldn't understand a word but not caring - which, may I say, felt like the height of my fandom craziness at the time. What could possibly top that level of insanity??

Ahem, right, moving on.

I remember being so surprised and delighted that the two of them were showing so much fun and personality from the very start of the concert. What nerves? So charming and so fun. Also, it's an incredibly beautiful visual image.

Since Zhehan's the focus of this fig, let's check out the actual video here:

The main camera angle didn't give us a great view of the twirl (OR of Gong Jun twirling), so let's have some inspirational stills of him floating across the stage:

It's incredible how beautiful he is. I had to hold myself back from putting sparkles and glitter hearts all over my header pic, because he's just so bright and sparkly and alive. His whole personality just shines through.

Ah, no wonder this fig maker was so inspired by this. Who wouldn't be?

When the box arrived at the warehouse, the photos taken of the inside looked like this:

You can just imagine my expression when I saw the flowers just thrown on in there all together! There's no way those resin petals would survive the journey - it doesn't even bear thinking about. I paid 62 cents for the warehouse to wrap the flowers to protect them and called it a bargain.

And here it is! Mindful of the way the flowers had looked in the warehouse, I was still worried they might be broken, but they unwrapped - shockingly - perfect.

Here's the base and the flowers. Thrilled at my good luck, I pulled up the fig maker's photo so I could make sure I was putting all the pieces in the right place, and started flower arranging.

And - well, precious readers, if you've been with me through the Hanye with a Sword post, you'll know what I went through with modifying that fig's little hand. So you can imagine how my heart sank when I found that two of the flowers did not want to fit into their little holes in the clouds.

I tried gently wiggling them, rotating them, angling them...nope.

You can see this first one has the stem almost pre-trimmed down to fit, but it sure didn't work.

The good news, of course, was that I had just gone through all of this with Hanye and his sword, so I re-gathered up my nerves, and got to work. I carefully sanded down a small part of the stems verrrrry very slowly, turning it to try to make it even on all sides, constantly testing to make sure I wasn't over-sanding.

It ended up being way easier than Hanye's hand, plus something about it being a flower instead of, well, a hand, just mentally made it less stressful.

Ta da! Whew, so glad that's done. It's not perfect, but I will say that one of the many things that touched my heart from the concert was that I actually, for the first time in my whole life, saw with my own eyes and actually believed that things don't have to be perfect to be beautiful. In fact, things can be more unique and precious because they're not. Gong Jun's off key singing, Zhehan losing the key, Wang Ruo Lin slipping and falling, etc etc ... all the chaos and mayhem and sheer, utter delight. It's hard to undo a lifetime of programming that perfection is everything, but I will tell you that this concert cracked that wide open and a real and lasting way for me.

Zhehan attaches to the base via feet magnets, which I am a big fan of. I wish more figs had magnets! The little feet go on those circles there you can see on the base.

Since he's twirling, I'm going to treat this like my music box posts and do a 360 degree photo roll so you get all the angles:

Whew! Very tempted to invest in the USB rotating platform. If only it wouldn't use up my one-video-per-post slot, I would.

Not all resin figs come with printed boxes - a lot of times they are just a plain white box, but this one did. (The printed stickers are a reminder to film an unboxing video) It's very beautiful! The writing on the box says, Goodbye Jianghu, which is certainly apropos to the concert.

I didn't have a box card in my box, which is too bad, because it would have been lovely to have this a pic of the fig with this art in the background. So I kind of made one myself with the header pic. I think it turned out really nice, but you can be the judge!

Material: Resin

Fig Count: 205

Scene Count: 18

Rating: Endless Happiness

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

#zhang zhehan #word of honor merch #word of honor concert #describe yesterday's performance in a four word idiom #欢乐无限 #endless happiness #人菜瘾大 #bad at singing but enjoy doing it #junzhe

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tiger1719 · 2 years

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Intro

Y/n transfers to Japan for school for her last year of high school. her dream career is joining the Marines. Eventually y/n see her friends after years

Kuroo x reader

“Ssgt Tate.”

“Yes?’

“When is my ship date again?”

“It’s January 24th that you leave for Parris Island.”

“Thank you sir. I’m sure you heard?”

“You’ll be back from Japan on the 11th?”

“Yes sir”

“Very well, good luck, keep me updated on your monthly IST scores. I’ll contact someone to run CFT and PFT with you at least every couple of months. You also need to study the knowledge as well.”

“Aye, Sir!” The h/c smiled as she pocketed her phone. In a few days she will be studying her last year of school in Japan. Her recruiter was not only great but he was amazing at keeping her motivated. All the recruiters in her office were outstanding, they really did make it feel like she actually belonged. It was recently a new dream of hers to be in Military, but being a Marine seemed to be even better, to have an amazing title, to feel like she belonged. Plus the dress blue was by far the best out there. She quietly went back to packing for her trip.

Most of her family was military, ranging from Marines to Airforce. Most of them were not expecting her to join, they just never had the thought of it. Music was definitely something she was passionate about, and had been for a long time. She never considered herself amazing at it, but she definitely wasn’t the worst. Not only was she very involved with music, working out had become her escape, she could focus more on readying herself for the three months she was about to experience in 10 months. Her focus was to make sure she would get 1st class on PFT and CFT as they were the most important for her to graduate. She had already come a long way from where she started. She was at the point where she could do 60 pushups but she started at barely doing 15. She made herself a very strict workout routine, her diet had changed to healthier options but more protein to keep her muscle growth going still.

She finally got the last of things packed and ready to go. She made sure she had enough clothes for at least a couple weeks, of course she would be wearing uniforms as soon as she got to her school. But it didn't hurt to have clothes for the days she didn't have school. Most of her skincare and makeup and other things were packed. She will be leaving for the airport tomorrow. She had a few delays that it would take a couple of days and a day to herself to try and get used to the new sleep schedule. Her school would be in Miyagi prefecture, on the very north side of the island. She knew it would be hard to be so far away from home and was nervous to adjust to a new environment.

She sighed softly when she got all her things ready to go. A new adventure, she wasn’t sure what to expect, but she was sure she would love the moments she was about to have.

Reader information:

CFT- Combat fitness test. CFT consists of 880 meter sprint, then ammo can lifts, then a series of cones, sprinting to first cone, high crawl to next cone and then low crawl to another cone. Next zigzag through more cones until last cone. Throw a grenade (not actually one, usually is a ball) and then 5 push ups. Next buddy drag a buddy very close to your weight, buddy drag through zigzag cones. Next fireman carry buddy to where you started. Last, you grab ammo cans (metal boxes that hold ammo, but for this particular reason, it is filled with sand. Most weigh about 30+ pounds. Once you have grabbed ammo cans, you sprint from one end of course to the next end of it.

PFT- Physical fitness test. Consists of certain amount of push ups or pull ups, pull ups preferred. Then a certain amount of sit ups. Last is a 3 mile run in a certain amount of time.

IST- Initial Strength Test- Push ups or pull ups, situps and a mile and half run

@artsamber @knightofmight

#haikyuu!!#kuroo x reader

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rubykgrant · 1 year

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I was thinking about my next-gen Kanto Gym Leaders again, so I'll just ramble about them haha-

Sam; new Viridian Leader, and the original Rival's grandchild (he's now Prof Oak, and the one who gets called Gramps~). She began training early, and became a Leader at age 12. Rather than focus on one specific Type, she trains multiple Pokemon, to represent everything found on earth, so it suits the Earth Badge! Usually, she battles new Trainers with something that counters their Starter with her own Bulbasaur/Charmander/Squirtle plus her Eevee. For more advanced Trainers, she has stronger teams. She's not quite as antagonistic as her grandpa once was, but she's very head-strong and pretty rough-n-tumble (her name is an homage to her great-grandfather, Sam Oak)

Cassandra; Brock's daughter, new leader of the Pewter Gym! Like her dad, she trains mainly Rock Types. She's got an easy-going personality, but is also very confident and determined in a casual way. The area between Pewter City and MT Moon has been expanded after the discover of Fossils (similar to the desert areas in Hoenn and Unova), and she helps introduce new Trainers to the concept, as well as giving them a tour of the Pewter Museum (her name includes the pun "sand")

Chelsea; new Cerulean Leader, no relation to Misty, but learned from her as an apprentice before taking over the duties. The Gym has moved to the Cerulean Cape, using the lighthouse as a location. She waits at the top, and challenger battle her Junior Trainers on the way up (the former building for the Gym has now become an Aquarium, where people can look at various Water Types from other regions). She's a charming young lady, very compassionate and takes great care to set a good example as a Gym Leader (her fashion style is a vintage sailor-style dress, and a beach sunhat, and her name includes the pun for "sea")

Victoria Surge; the grandchild of LT Surge, and new Leader of Vermilion! Decidedly more of a punk than her grandfather, she's every bit as intimidating as he can be, but embraces the idea of being wild and free, like a storm (her Gym is no longer a puzzle you solve with methodical trial-and-error, but instead different little tricks that encourage challengers to think outside the box and do the opposite of the obvious). The Gym building has also been re-designed to include a roller-rink and skate park! She's a skatergirl (her name is meant to symbolize "victory", one her grandfather definitely picked out for her)

Heather; the new Gym Leader for Celadon! No relation to Erika, but clearly loves gardening just as much as her predecessor. When she isn't at the Gym, she's working in Celedon City's new Musical and Contest areas, and preparing the famous Celadon Shopping Mall to include spaces for Avenues! (she likes to combine casual clothing and "grunge fashion" with pretty floral accents. her name is both a pun on the heather plant, and with added letter rearranged a bit, it become "wreath")

Hattori and Kotaro; twin great-grandkids of Koga, and the grandkids of Janine! They are the new leaders of Fuchsia, and challengers must Double-Battle them for a Badge (they have 3 main Pokemon each, so use 6 all together). They're both fun-loving little pranksters, and being trained as ninja by their family makes them very good at sneaking around (they aren't mean, but they can be annoying). Hatori is a bit more talkative, but better at staying hidden. Kotaro is quieter, and will openly show himself, usually as a distraction/deception (their names are inspired by Hattori Hanzo and Fuma Kotaro)

Charlie; the new Cinnabar leader, no relation to Blaine, but initially helped build a new permanent place for Cinnabar Island that was a safe distance from the volcano, and eventually took over as leader. The location for Cinnabar is now on that stretch of land near where Pallet Town opens to the ocean (in one of the last eruptions, Moltres was seen flying through the explosion of lava, seemingly enjoying the volcanic activity. when the Legendary Bird landed to rest for the night, it created a trail of lava that cooled in the sea, making a small archipelago and expanding some land mass). Before retiring, Blaine created a new Game Corner for Cinnabar, and Charlie designed a re-creation of the famous Mansion to hold his new Gym. He's a very responsible young man, a bit more serious than the original Leader, but also very motivated and encouraging to others (his name contains the pun for "char" or "charred")

Benjamin and Matthew; a duo who are joined Leaders for Saffron City, now the location for the final Badge. After Sabrina retired, a Fighting Type Trainer worked hard to be Saffron's Leader again, as it once had been before Sabrina. Later, a Psychic Trainer took their place, creating a pattern... because Benjamin and Matthew had always worked together, they decided to share the Gym Leader title, and use BOTH Types of Pokemon! Benjamin uses Psychic, and Matthew uses Fighting. After some remodeling, the two buildings at the top Northen entrance to Saffron function as the Gyms (former Sabrina's Gym on the right, and the Fighting Dojo on the left). They have no Junior Trainers, but each use full teams of 6 Pokemon. You must Defeat them both to earn the Badge. Benjamin is very cheerful and a little brash, while Matthew is more calm and reserved (their names are a pun on "mind over matter", BnejaMIN and MATT hew)

#pokemon #gym leaders

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