#you'll get that 4a one day

[netherworldpost]

Hi! I followed you for a long time with alot of "jeez someday I hope that can be me some day" fervor and now I am starting my own small goth shop. Do you have any tips on reaching the alternative audience? or tips on general about running a shop I'm nervous.

1a. Protect your cash flow

This is to say constantly question "does this shiny envelope packaging pack in make people love my shop more or is it a money drain?" This is not a simple answer.

It is an answer you'll ask yourself all the time.

The answer is going to shift. Fun unboxing videos? Great for social media posts. Great to get attention. Great fun. Expensive to produce. Worth it? Constantly check.

I really want to stress this: I am not saying "do not do it" -- I am saying "do what makes sense."

In the business-to-business world (you're a business, other businesses are going to sell to you), one of the most effective/common sales tactics is "take this thing you do and make it fun."

Your product is fun.

Your product is quality.

Your packaging etc.'s primary task is to get your product to your customer efficiently (easy to read address labels) and safely (stuff does not break).

1b. Protect your cash flow part two

Evil Supply Co. was the original shop. It experimented with everything -- color changing cereal spoons (launched), temporary tattoos (launched), umbrellas (did not launch), plates and bowls and towels and toothbrushes and shower curtains (did not launch). So much more.

It was primarily a stationery company.

The experimenting was incredibly fun, I regret nothing, and it cost me giant truck loads of cash. That's why Netherworld Post is focusing far more tightly.

2. Can't meet budget? Reduce scope.

When you're talking to designers or web hosts or whatever, and they say "We want $$$" and you say "I have $," reduce your scope down. This fits into the above, you're noticing a theme maybe.

This is a business. It has to make money to continue, it has to make profit to pay you to continue, it has to compensate you for your time to continue.

OR

It is a hobby.

And it doesn't have to do any of those things, it just has to scratch that itch that made you pursue it. It can still sell stuff, it can be a shop, it can be open when you want and closed when you want.

There is no moral, ethical, social value difference between a business and a hobby.

Do what fits into your goals, and if your goals shift, change your shop to accommodate.

3. Have fun

Your biggest competitor by a factor of 1:100 is other shops:folks posting your work without attribution or links.

You've seen the videos where someone is saying "Oh you're so pretty, you're so cute? No, YOU are so pretty, YOU are so cute." That's small business life.

There is enough for us all. Just have fun.

4a. Reaching people

Post stuff. Works in progress, memes, rambles, whatever makes you "you". Pepper in shop links and email sign up links occasionally.

Just be you.

If you don't know who you are, well, that's what you should post.

There is this idea that there is a "brand" that you have to build, and you're going to get (if you aren't getting them already) a million targeted ads to help you build this brand.

"I sell stuff. It has a price range of $X. It is high quality! Or it is cheap quality and priced accordingly! It can be found at xyz dot com. It will get to you in Z days/weeks." = 99% of branding.

The other 1% is "when you think of me, you think of X." Such as, when you think of Netherworld Post, you think of atty's antics and Fang's amused exasperation and Halloween and spooky things and mail and ghosts and mermaids, etc.

4b. Decide your social media bandwith and stick to it

There are ten billion social networks.

It's common to feel like you have to be on them all 24/7. Attempting to reach this is going to burn you out and use up limited resources, it is far more effective to have an email list (this is independent of all networks) + the networks you, as a person, enjoy using and focusing there.

See #3 above. Fits here too.

5. Keep going when things are hard or convert this into a hobby You're making this shop for a reason.

That reason is more important than money, otherwise you wouldn't be doing it.

Building a shop is infinitely harder than playing video games and reading books and watching movies and dancing -- every hour you are working on your shop is an hour you're not playing video games about dancing books.

If you say "this sucks," convert it to a hobby. See #2.

The reason I'm building Netherworld Post instead of doing other business things that would make much more money is because I love it. It feeds a part of me. It makes me more "me" to run this shop than to not run this shop.

The minute that changes, I'm converting it to a hobby. Keep the door open when I want to play, close the door it when I'm tired, re-open after I rest.

If you want more money in your life, get a second job.

If you want money doing THIS -- take every problem as it lunges at your heart, take that tender in your black painted talons, look at the problem carefully, then tear it apart until you have the answers.

You are going to be doing this constantly.

It should be part of the fun.

If it's not, make this a hobby.

There is no inherent value in having it as a business.

The value is this project is it should make you more you.

Every single problem you are going to face -- every single question you are going to ask -- every single opportunity, every issue -- listen to me, everything -- has at LEAST one industry built on solving it.

Not company. Industry.

Keep going until you find someone or something that fixes it for your budget and scope.

6. You do not work for other people

You mention you've been around for awhile following me, so maybe you've seen my...

...occasional ...lack... of delicacy...

...when dealing with people who have a confusion about who is running this blog (them vs. me)

People are going to say "you should lower your prices, you should post more X, you should post less Y, you shouldn't post about Z person/ business/ entity/ thing because of Reasons."

Critiques and criticism can be valid.

They are not directives that need be followed.

There are consequences for not following them (people may leave).

There are consequences for following them when you disagree with them (your shop may feel less like your shop and more like someone else's).

This is not license to be a jerk.

It means that this is your shop and it has to make you more "you" and if it doesn't then it isn't your shop it is a pain in the ass job that pays you far less than you should be paid.

It's like dating as the most confident person in the world.

"This is who I am. Am I compatible with you? IF SO we will drink root beer and dance badly to old cartoons and dress up in silly costumes and be absurd. IF NOT then I wish you well, and the instant you are gone, I will never think of you again."

I ask no one to change who they are when they follow my blog or read my rambles or shop in my stores.

I do not change who I am for the people who follow my blog or read my rambles or shop in my stores.

You must adopt this attitude too.

Or it's not your shop.

It belongs to people you don't know who make you uncomfortable.

Which is the exact description of the world's worst paying job or second job. Which is the exact opposite of why you are building your shop.

#small business

[jxtina-86]

The Meet Cute

Roman thumbs through his phone, flicking from emails to social media to some dumb-ass game. He stifles a yawn, his gaze drifting across the airport lounge.

It's late, a handful of flights left to depart and the airport is slowly shutting down around him. His eyes fall back to his phone, his thumb hovering for a second before he taps the app icon.

There's a new message from the woman he'd matched with a few days ago. He ignores it, the chat so far has been dry. He needs to let her down gently, he can't risk just ghosting her, but he hasn't got the right words to tell her right now.

Instead, he starts to flick through the various profiles. He barely pauses on each one before swiping left. Again. Again. Again. He's not sure why he's doing this. He's out of here in less than 30 minutes. What's the point?

His thumb halts as he spots the distance on the next profile. 1 mile. He wonders if - he checks the name - Katherine is as bored as he is. He glances around but all he can see are guys in business casual.

He flicks through her photos - she's got the classics nailed, the hiking photo, a snap with a dog, a group of friends, in a bar holding a cocktail. But the last one, makes him stop. It's a black-and-white professional photo. She's leaning against a wall staring down the lens. Her long hair cascades over one shoulder, her arms crossed in front of her. Hooked on one finger is the arm of a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, dangling delicately.

Roman thumbs her profile - 28, writer.

You'll usually find me lounging in my favorite sweatpants, typing away on my laptop, and sipping on a cup of coffee that's probably gone cold by now. I'm all about keeping things low-key and having a good laugh along the way.

"Flight 968 to Tampa is now boarding at gate 4A."

He shuts the app without swiping either way.

The flight looks pretty empty judging by the minimal activity at the gate. As he hands over his boarding pass, the staff member does a double-take.

"My son's a huge fan," she tells him. "Would you mind...?"

Roman obliges, signing the blank boarding pass she hands him.

She taps on the computer. "Let me upgrade you, business is looking empty and I reckon you'd appreciate the extra leg-room."

"That's very kind of you," he tells her, chuckling as she blushes. "Thank you."

With his new boarding pass in hand, he makes his way down the gangway and onto the plane. Out of the 20 seats in business, only 9 are occupied. He checks his seat number - 4A.

As he steps forward he realises that 4B is occupied, a nest of dark hair just peeking above the seat but as he nears more of the occupant's face appears and he frowns as it seems strangely familiar.

"Sorry," he says he lifts his carry-on into the overhead locker. "I'm in the window-seat."

"No worries." She gathers her stuff - a laptop, notebook, pen - and stands to move into the aisle so he can get past. He catches her eye as he does. He knows her, but from where?

As they both settle back down, he gives her a sideways glance and then looks away so she can't see the look of realisation that suddenly dawns on him.

Shit.

Katherine tugs down the glasses from her hair as she opens her laptop back up. She can feel the stranger next to her looking but when she glances in his direction, he's staring out of the window, his baseball cap pulled down.

She inhales deeply, her mind switching back to her laptop but only briefly. Damn, this guy smells divine. The luxury of whatever he's wearing drifts over her. She's never been this lucky before, usually she's stuck next to an overbearing, sweaty businessman in a suit one size too small. This guy is in black sweats, the only sign of anything business like is his watch that gleams under the harsh cabin lighting.

"Champagne?" A member of cabin crew hovers over her, offering a glass. Katherine accepts.

"And for you, sir?"

Her seat-mate doesn't respond.

"Sir?"

"Hey," Katherine taps his arm softly.

"Huh?" Roman looks up. "Sorry, no. Actually, yeah why not."

He accepts the glass and takes a long drink.

She's pushed the glasses back up on top of her head, he notices. The loose sleeve of her sweatshirt slips back as she raises the champagne flute, revealing a delicate tattoo around her wrist.

She catches his eyes as she drinks and raises her other hand to her face. "Have I got something..."

"No, sorry, ignore me."

"Hard to when you keep staring at me."

"Shit," he exhales. "This is awkward."

"Less awkward than it already is," she replies and he wonders if that was a grimace or a smirk that dashes across her lips.

"I saw your profile. On Tinder."

There's a pause.

"You scroll Tinder in airports?" she raises an eyebrow.

"Clearly you do too, given it said you were less than a mile away."

She has the good grace to blush. "Touche..."

"Roman," he extends his hand.

"Katherine," she replies, letting his fingers curl over hers.

"I know," he chuckles and she rolls her eyes with a grin.

"So did you swipe right or left?"

Roman squirms slightly. "Neither. They called the gate."

"Good save."

"What do you write?"

Katherine's eyes narrow slightly. "You read my profile?"

"The first bit. Like I said, they called the gate."

"How far did you read?"

Roman frowns for a second. "Something about sweatpants, laptop and cold coffee."

"I write books. Novels."

"Anything I would know?"

Katherine laughs. "You don't strike me as someone who reads romance novels."

"Hey, don't judge a book by its cover," he winks. "But no, you're right. I don't."

"What do you read?"

Roman shrugs. "Not much. I don't get the time."

"What do you do?"

"Take a guess. I reckon that romance-novelist brain of yours can concoct a good backstory for me."

A slow smile spreads across Katherine's face. "You know what this is called? In my world that is?"

"Tell me."

"A meet cute."

----

A/N: Taking it back to the start. I'm writing these on the fly. It's almost 1am and I have to be up in 5 hours and I cannot get these two out of my head. If anyone has any requests (first date thoughts, spicy book scenes you want recreating between Katherine and Roman) send them my way. Photos of Roman making suggestive glances are also welcome.

#roman reigns fanfiction #roman reigns smut #romanreigns #roman reigns imagine #roman reigns

[frostfangalphabitch]

Yo, have you played older armored core games, which ones would you recommend, and how would you recommend one goes about playing those games?

I have played the older games! I adore this series, and it's been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. I started with Generation 3, so that's going to be my recommended starting point, but there are a few places you could start.

Here's the TL;DR: The games from Gens 1, 2, and 3 are good, Nexus and Last Raven are excellent. All of those use a very different energy system from AC6 which might take some getting used to. Gen 4 is also fantastic and has extremely fast-paced combat. Gen 5 isn't terrible but is not looked upon fondly, and these entries are kind of only half a game without the online features. Also, pirating is illegal! But if you already own the discs, you can get the images off Vimm's Lair.

As a rule, I'd suggest going from older to newer. The original game used L1 and R1 for looking up and down and didn't start using the second stick for look controls until Nexus, which is in the middle of Gen 3. With that in mind though, here's my general guide to the games.

Generation 1 (AC1, Project Phantasma, Master of Arena) is a decent starting point. The games are unforgiving but still play pretty solidly even now. If you're willing to go back to PS1 games and don't mind failing and starting over until you finally figure out how to pilot your tank-controls mech, Armored Core 1 is a great place to start. Generation 2 (AC2, 2: Another Age) is also pretty good and is where the games transitioned to PS2. The games are a little more forgiving than Gen 1. Mostly.

Generation 3 expands on the formula from the previous games with plenty of quality of life improvements and more parts. AC3 is the first entry in this generation, and Silent Line is basically an expansion for it. If you liked 3, you'll like Silent Line.

The games past Silent Line are considered Generation 3.5, and this is where the games really start to shine in my opinion. Nexus is the first game where they make use of the second stick for look controls, and they started experimenting with new mechanics as well.

Last Raven is my favorite game from gens 1-3 and probably my 2nd favorite overall after 6. This is the first game in the series that has branching paths and multiple endings. The story is really engaging and you need to get all 7 endings to really get the whole picture of what's going on. Now that I think about it, this is kind of a prototypical version of modern FromSoftware storytelling. The only problem with this game is that it is extremely difficult compared to previous games, even AC1, and they were fully expecting you to make use of the feature that lets you transfer your schematics and parts from Nexus or Nine Breaker. If you're looking for a challenge, this game is really great! It's tough but rewarding and a ton of fun. Under no circumstances should it be your first entry into the series, though.

Formula Front and Nine Breaker can be skipped. Nine Breaker felt like an inferior Master of Arena, and Formula Front is just... weird.

AC4 and 4 Answer are the first games on PS3/X360, and they shake things up a lot. Brand new parts, new guns, new mechanics. They're the first games where you can boost forever, and the gameplay is extremely fast, easily the fastest in the series. If you're good enough, you can move so fast your camera literally can't keep up. 4A is my third favorite game in the series, but the whole generation is worth playing.

Gen 5 (AC5 and Verdict Day) are... I mean they're fine. They have good mech designs, the core gameplay is still there, and they slowed the gameplay way down after Gen 4, but they also focused really hard on multiplayer, which is now dead unless you're lucky. A lot of the gameplay revolves around online missions, so they're kind of just half a game now.

As for how to play the games... Unfortunately, they weren't super popular in the West, so copies that exist go for more than new AAA games these days on eBay, especially with AC6 out. Now, despite how that sounds, I'm not gonna say you should emulate without a legit copy of your own, since that'd be illegal. You should also stay away from a place called Vimm's Lair. You can download the discs there, but only if you own the discs themselves! That said, if you do happen to have legit copies and want to emulate them on your PC, Duckstation, PCSX2, and RPCS3 will be able to run them. But ignore that sentence if you don't own the games legally!

Generation 5 won't emulate properly no matter what, though, so you really will have to buy a copy to play on your PS3 for those.

...Damn, I did not mean to write a post this long. Then again, AC is one of my special interests.

#again I'm not condoning illegal emulation. #I love corporations and their unwillingness to preserve their own media! #It's entirely their prerogative after all! #armored core 6 #armored core #ac6 #retro gaming

[shytastemakerthing]

hi id like to request a romantic twst matchup ^_^ i dont label my gender/sexuality and the way i present myself fluctuaes but i could consider myself as androgyne (he/she). im an afro-carib with caramel brown skin, 4a curly hair. im more on the chubby side with a round face (two moles on each side) and apple body shape. i have a bit of a resting bitch face as well.. and my voice is at most monotone amd flat.

im pretty calm and mellow most of the time.. like an observer in the background. im a soft-spoken guy. usually im relaxed and unshaken, though my motivation seems to come on a whim every other day so i may seem out of it at times. its easy to keep my composure for most things and keep my emotions in check.  i have tendencies to be passive-aggressive when provoked and im kinda stubborn but i swear that im chill and friendly.

its easy for me to pick up from setbacks. im naturally intelligent but i dont really study to keep it.. its not like i dont want because, im quite self-aware, its just the lack of motivation. im also quite clever when the time comes and people still seem surprised abt it. im also a realist and i tend to give advice rather than comfort when the time comes. when im around the people i love i seem more chatty that usual, not like super loud or outgoing but im def enjoying myself.

i also laugh at like everything even if its unfunny as hell. my humor is mostly sarcasm and satire tbh. i like trying new things for the sake of trying new things. i also like playing video games, indulging in my interests (drawing, fashion, movies, etc) or whatever seems to catch my eye. ive been wanting to get a bass guitar and grow a garden one day. im also told im quite good with babies but not toddlers. quite the pacifier. my love languages are quality time and parallel play and id like to receive acts of service and words of affirmation (or the ones i give). thanks!! ^_^

A/N: Hello and thank you so much for your request, anon! I do hope that you like your match-up! Enjoy!

Tw: None

I match you with..........

Ruggie Bucchi

Honestly, with how crazy his life is, between doing jobs for Leona, jobs for anyone else, trying to get his schoolwork done, being like an unofficial vice housewarden for Savanaclaw, he needs someone who is as calming as yourself, After such a long day, knowing that he could easily retreat into the safety and comfort of your arms makes his hyena beyond thrilled. It's his favorite part of the day.

Ruggie loved just how real you can be about things. Too many people just beat around the bush or try to sugar coat things when there are times where you just need the brutal honesty of a situation. Seeing how he grew up, it was easy to say that he had a similar mindset. Not everything is all sunshine and rainbows. So the fact that you'll just tell him things as they are, no beating around the bush or trying to make things better, it is something that he greatly admired about you.

Look at the hyena and tell me he isn't sarcastic in some way, shape, or form. Sure, he absolutely loved himself a good laugh, oh, but he just loved your sarcasm. It always brings a snicker out of him. This means he will also get sarcastic with you and at you, or crack some jokes as well, some being better than others.

Seeing how you keep your composure is something that's always impressed him (even more so if your the Ramshackle prefect, because if he was ripped out of his world, put in a brand new one where he knew absolutely nothing, put in a dorm that was falling apart at the very foundation, he didn't think he could keep his cool the way that you do), and he certainly thinks that a lot of the students here could learn a thing or two from you.

Oh, he absolutely loves your hair! He has seen hair like yours before, but not often. Now, he is a very dedicated partner (and also got some experience with a lot of the kids that were in the village he grew up in), meaning he learned everything about your specific style of hair. How to care for it, how to style it, the whole nine yards. If you ever need someone to work with and style your hair, he's the hyena for the job (he will even do it for free....... or maybe at least for a doughnut)

Overall, Ruggie is a very dedicated partner. He may not have much, but he finds anyway that he can be able to show that he can provide for you. Just the fact that you actually looked his way and gave him a chance means more to him than you could ever possibly know.

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #twst #matchups #twst imagines #disney twisted wonderland #romantic #twst ruggie #ruggie bucchi x reader #ruggie x reader #ruggie bucchi #twisted wonderland ruggie #twst ruggie bucchi #shy answers #shy writes

[beyondthepleasureprinciple]

Hello, hello, Windsor College residents. Are you sitting comfortably? Have you had a good night's sleep? Has anybody found the first body on campus yet? Sorry, if you're reading this, and you're the poor sod that did. Just couldn't help myself.

Not like I woke up this morning wanting to kill somebody.

Hah.

Anyway. I wanted to welcome you all to Beyond the Pleasure Principle; a funny little project of mine. You'll receive little posts from me every few days where I discuss the murders that are about to reign on campus, and - if you're real lucky - I might even make a little prize for Murder of the Week. I want to see if anyone's gonna keep up with me, y'know?

But I'm rushing ahead! I haven't given any of you context. Allow me to explain - recently, around Windsor, you may have noticed a few of you having unusual, odd, strange, peculiar (so many words, couldn't decide on just one) dreams. All of them focus around the same thing - a girl in your dorm room (boys, boys, keep calm. I know this is unusual for you, but this is a horror story, not a porno).

None of you have seen my face, obviously. Ruins the game if you all know who I am. But you all know something - Southern 7B, you've heard my name. Eastern 4A, you've felt my hands on your shoulders. The entirety of the Western 6 flats smelled my perfume, because apparently you lot all got drunk enough that your heads were real fucking easy to break into.

And all of you woke up this morning with the impossible knowledge, even before it all kicked off, even before the police arrived, even before the campus went on lockdown... that somebody in the Northern flats had died.

Now. One of you lucky motherfuckers has been chosen to take up the mantle, so you'll be seeing me tonight. I want to start a little chain for us all - I kill one, you kill another, so on and so forth. If any of this gets back to law enforcement - well, I'm not stupid, you won't be able to track this post, and what other evidence do you have? Oh, yes, officer, I know exactly who killed Northern 5C, let me tell you about this dream I had last night... hah, actually, please let me know if anybody tries that.

Anyway. I'll be around. Sleep well and all.

In your dreams,

Acadia xoxo

#Fucking love Gossip Girl. - A #// ooc tags: #alternate reality game #arg #unfiction #slashers #horror arg #choose your own adventure #discord server

[ofdarkestdesires]

Starter V2, 4A: After a long day of adventuring, Nadûr just wanted to blow off some steam via plowing Korrin ... only he mistakes a silver haired hellcat for his vampire lover.

Version 2: 4A

The moment he'd laid eyes on her in that dingy tavern, he knew he had to have her. The thick, wild silver hair that fell down her back, the deep tanned skin that begged to be kissed, bit, and licked all over, and those soft, adorable cat ears that poked up from the top of her head--all of that, and with a body to kill for, and Nadûr knew he needed to make her his.

Across the bar, Korrin caught his eye, clearly telling where his intentions lay, and gave him a wink. Go right ahead~ she seemed to say, leaning back and getting comfortable to watch. Her approval brought a blush to the handsome half-orc's cheeks, but he grinned back to his lovely vampire lover, and quickly made his way over to charm the sexy hellcat for a night they'd both never forget.

An hour later, and the room he and Korrin had rented was shaking from floor to ceiling with desperate screams.

"Oh fuck YES~!! Fuck fuck fuck YES BABY~!!" The silver-haired hellcat moaned out desperately as she was pinned to the bed, her wrists held in his firm clasp and pinned to the small of her back, just over her immaculate ass that bounced and clapped with the thunderous smack of his hips drilling down into her. She moaned out, almost burying her face into the sheets-- "YES~!! YES~!! OH FUCK, FUCK ME DADDY, THAT FEELS SO FUCKING GOOOOOODDD~!!"

Nadûr groaned as he plowed down into her, his muscular form glistening with sweat as he plowed the sexy kitty ruthlessly. She was insatiable, he was quickly realizing--nearly as much as Korrin was. He groaned, smacking her phat ass with his free hand, before reaching up to tangle his fingers in her hair, jerking her head back to brush his lips against one of her feline ears.

"If you want me to be your Daddy, then you'll need to be a good girl~ can you be a good girl for Daddy, my little hellcat~?" he growled, his hips thundering harder down into her.

Bast could only mewl and nod in agreement, her pussy clenching harder around his cock. She'd only come to this world for a bit of fun adventuring, but it seemed like she'd be here for much, much longer.

As long as he kept fucking her like this, though, she couldn't care less.

#freeusemuses #ofdarkest does rwby #ofdarkest does ocs #ofdarkest does snippets #ofdarkest does skyrim #ofdarkest does d&d #the zirconia family

[suga-kookiemonster]

hey ashley! hope all is well. i think I’ve seen you mention that you have natural hair if so i have a quick question. what’s some of your favorite products? i’m newly natural and so overwhelmed with all the different brands and product lines.

hey babe! yes, i do have natural hair. congrats on taking the plunge 👏🏾👏🏾🙌🏾 it definitely is overwhelming at first, and there are so many products out there, it's easy to become a product junkie. however, ultimately, trying things are the only way you'll know whether something works for your hair. everyone's hair reacts differently to different things, so never feel that there are only certain products you should use or there is only one method you should be doing on your hair. do whatever works for you! 💜

now to answer your question. for reference, i would say i have fine, 4a hair (if you're into typing) that's normal porosity, and i have a lot of it. so as the years have gone on, i've had to modify my routine to try my best to prevent single strand knots and to cut down on washing time. as of now, every wash day i prepoo to detangle, i shampoo my hair in twists, i deep condition, and then i style using the LOC method. i have a mix of products i'm trying to use up, but i'll highlight the ones i come back to.

Brands I love and have been using for years: Melanin Haircare, Soultanicals, Miche. All black-owned businesses ✊🏾

Prepoo: African Pride prepoo, but I ran out, so the past couple wash days I've been using my big bottle of Aunt Jackie's Knot on My Watch detangler

Shampoo: honestly, this varies. I have a lot of different ones that I've been giving a go, because I've been trying to find a clarifying one that i like enough to keep repurchasing. I do like the Miche shampoo, and when it comes to clarifying, I've lowkey been using Mane & Tail lol (we'll see if I repurchase that one).

Deep conditioners: This is where I don't really have product loyalty, because I loveeee deep conditioners, and love to try all different kinds! When it comes to brand, I'm always gonna rep Soultanicals--been using their products pretty much since I first went natural

Leave In: I've been using the Melanin Haircare leave-in for years! You get quality ingredients and more bang for your buck. Also, they're in Ulta and Sephora now, so it's much easier to just go in the store and get when you need it. I also love the Soultanicals Mango Dip and have been using for years. Recently, I've also been using that Aunt Jackie's Knot on My Watch detangler because I bought a big bottle of it from Marshall's because why not, it was like $11 for a gallon lol. And it actually works pretty well!

Oil: I'm not picky, but I use Melanin Haircare/Miche/Ecoslay. I've used Melanin the longest and it's the best bang for your buck, but Ecoslay smells really good!

Cream- depending on if I'm doing a twist out or more of a wash and go, I use Melanin Haircare or Miche or Eden Bodyworks. Melanin is more of a butter, but other brands like Miche and Eden Bodyworks and have more definition and hold, if that's what you're looking for. I think I don't really have a favorite--I'm just using up my stash lol

Gel: I used to really love Wetline Extreme when my hair was shorter. But now that it's longer and tangles easier (plus, I think they changed their formula), it's just not doing it for me anymore. I would still give it a try--it may work for you! That and Ecostyler, though Eco made my scalp tingle ominously the one time I've used it, so I can't really speak to how well it works. Other people love it though. I also have used As I Am curling jelly from the very beginning of my journey, though it's definitely more of a lightweight gel. I've also been using Dippity Do because I got it at Marshalls for cheap with my Aunt Jackie's, and it works pretty well, though it also has a lightweight hold.

Good luck babe! Hope you find something that works for you--let me know if you have any more questions 💜

#asks

[notmodernbrutalism]

[M 4A] Florence and the Machine

Prólogo

Florence, tu música produce ecos incorpóreos en lo profundo de mi ego.

Cada hiedra que une mi ser, se ve sacudida por movimientos ondulantes, lentos, pasionales, nostálgicos.

La conexión con la tierra, con las raíces de la vida misma.

Llorar es un acto de fe en si mismo.

Me has reconectado con un ser superior, invisible, que me destruye y me cuida.

Gracias.

Lungs

Dog Days are Over

And I never wanted anything from you

Except everything you had and what was left after that too, oh

Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)

This is a gift, it comes with a price

Who is the lamb and who is the knife?

Howl

Be careful of the curse that falls on young lovers

Starts so soft and sweet and turns them to hunters

Kiss with a Fist

So sit back and watch the bed burn

Girl with One Eye

That's why you sleep with one eye open, oh

But that's the price you'll pay

Drumming Song

As I move my feet towards your body

I can hear this beat it fills my head up

And gets louder and louder

It fills my head up and gets louder and louder

Cosmic Love

The stars, the moon

They have all been blown out

You've left me in the dark

No dawn, no day

I'm always in this twilight

In the shadow of your heart

My Boy builds Coffins

My boy builds coffins, he makes them all day

But it's not just for work and it isn't for play

He's made one for himself, one for me too

One of these days he'll make one for you

Hurricane Drunk

I hope that you see me, because I'm staring at you

But when you look over, you look right through

Then you lean and kiss her on the head

And I never felt so alive, and so dead

Blinding

Seems that I have been held in some dreaming state

A tourist in the waking world, never quite awake

No kiss, no gentle word could wake me from this slumber

Until I realize that it was you who held me under

You've got the Love

Sometimes it seems that the going is just too rough

And things go wrong no matter what I do

Now and then it seems that life is just too much

But you've got the love I need to see me through

Amar nuevamente,

La desesperación en vela,

El aire enrarecido

Con la presencia ajena.

📍Puntuación: 5/5 🥰

#spotify #musica #music #florence welch #between two lungs #top #feelings

[rinkrats]

“he is from sendai... he’s donated so much of his prize money - all of his olympic prize money - to disaster relief for the sendai earthquake, all of his autobiography royalties have been donated. he’s been an ambassadorial figure throughout”

#HE!!!! #as someone whose family benefited from those donations after the quake and tsunami i will love him forever #he is the sport and is more than the sport <3 #you'll get that 4a one day #yuzuru hanyu #figure skating #olympics #fskateedit

[heyimboredtalktome]

hey yea so here's that figure skating short I wrote in like 2 hours, I'm thinking of calling it The Black Bat Squishmallow but I think that ain't serious enough, so I'll probably change it later on, tho for now (lemme know if y'all want a part 2 ✌🏼)

The Black Bat Squishmallow, like 2200 words, let's go:

To say that Nico was nervous would be an understatement.

His heart was pounding so loudly he could barely hear his thoughts, his legs and arms were feeling numb and he was literally going to faint any second. Will and Reyna sat on ground, with their backs resting against the wall, calmly watching Nico have a nervous breakdown.

"I'm going to mess up everything," he said, feeling the bile rising up in his throat.

"You're going to be fine, Nico, all that hard work you did in practice won't betray you," said Reyna, who was watching Nico run around with an amused expression on her face.

"You seem to be having fun, watching my misery," he retorted.

"Well, your boyfriend isn't all that pensive too," said Reyna, smirking.

"What? It's cute!" Will said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Dorks," Nico said rolling his eyes. He acted like they irritated him, but, this banter made him feel so much lighter. They were truly his support system, they made him feel infinitely better by just being there. He remembered this one time when he was still in juniors, he had to travel without Reyna and he'd messed up the short program so badly, it was so embarrassing.

Never again, he thought with a shudder.

As for Will, his calming vibes worked wonderfully for Nico's nerves, he reduced the tension in any room tenth-fold by just being there. He also almost always travelled with Nico; he couldn't remember the last time they were separated. He also kept Nico in check, so that he couldn't go rogue with any wild combinations during practice.

"I should've done the quad lutz triple loop in practice," he said. "What if I can't land it there because I didn't practice it once beforehand?"

"And risk aggravating your ankle injury one day before the competition? Yeah, no," Will snorted.

"But what if I can't land it? Should I change my jump composition?" he asked, fiddling with the sequins on his costume.

"Don't worry, little brother, that's why the combination is the first jump in your program," Reyna said, calm and confident like always.

Nico opened his mouth to say something, but Reyna continued,

"In case you fall on the Lutz and miss the combination, just add a triple toe to the flip, which is the next jumping pass, and put the axel in the second half for the bonus points. Now I know that you wanted to land a loop combination, and you probably will, but in case you fall on your Lutz, adding a triple toe is easier and the point difference is almost negligible. Don't pop your jumps, though," he finished, fixing him with a stern look.

Nico had to admit, that the strategy was pretty good, it made him feel a little better. He supposed that's why Reyna was the best of the best in this field.

"You'll do amazing," said Will, getting up and engulfing him in a tight and warm hug. Nico felt all drowsy and calm, Will's hugs did that to you. "You should get this over with quickly though, Reyna and I want to buy Sailor Moon merch," he said, smirking. They were in Japan for the NHK trophy, and Will and Reyna were just waiting for the competition to get over so that they could splurge on anime merch.

"You're such a fucking nerd, why do I even like you- "

"But you do," Will said, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead,

"Hmph," Nico said, wrapping is arms around Will as tightly as tightly as he could.

"Aye, lovebirds, do you know that Aliev is going to attempt a quad axel, it's in his planned program content," said Reyna, looking at her phone.

"Is he now?" Nico asked, his interest piqued. He sat beside Reyna and she showed him his phone, the first jump on the list was "4A" which was an abbreviation for the quadruple axel. Nobody had ever landed this elusive jump, even Reyna looked interested, although she also looked skeptical.

"You think he can land it?" Nico said, resting his head on Reyna's shoulder.

"Who knows? The ice is slippery, little brother," she said. "A triple axel done correctly with good transitions is difficult as it, and with such a high risk of injury, but a quad axel?" she shook her head. "Let's hope that his coach knows what they're doing,"

"It's time for Group 6, let's go Nico," Will said, looking at his watch.

The three of them collected their stuff walked down to the arena, and as they entered, the shouts and the blinding lights nearly disoriented Nico. He got over it in a few seconds though, and waved at the crowd, some people in which were screaming his name. He felt nervous, but also excited, he was smiling unconsciously, the ice seemed to be calling to him. He loved skating and he loved competing. He wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.

"Alright, Nico," Reyna said, putting all her stuff on the boards and leaning against it. "How're you feeling?"

"Nervous, but also really excited," he said, jumping up a few times, making Will and Reyna laugh.

"Okay so here's what you're going to do during the six minute warm-up," she said, looking at him. "Skate a few laps, jump only triples, a quad toe if you want to do a quad- you're not going to listen to me, are you?" she sighed, looking at Nico who was grinning at her like a wolf.

"Of course, I'm gonna listen to you," still smiling as if Christmas had come early.

Reyna couldn't help but laugh as she continued, "Do a few laps, deepen your edges, and please don't crash into another skater like the last time- "

"It was one time," he grumbled. "Cut me some slack, I hadn't slept that night,"

"Touché," said Will.

"Also just be calm, alright? Don't add Rippons if you think that your axis is off,"

Nico took a deep breath and jumped on the spot, completing three revolutions with his hands raised over his head and then landing perfectly on one foot.

"I think it's alright today," he just, still remaining on one foot.

"Good," Reyna looked satisfied. "Are your laces tight?"

"I don't know, check it for me, Will," he said giving Will his foot with a smile. He was limp-wristed, he sucked at tightening his laces, alright. Will tightened his laces as the announcer called Group 6 unto the ice.

"Off you go!" Reyna said, patting him on the back.

Nico took a deep breath as he got on the ice, just doing crossovers and deepening his edges like Reyna had said. Once he looked back to make sure nobody was behind him, he did a triple lutz, effortlessly with his hands over his head. Very good. But Reyna had told him to do that, so that was not going to work, he liked pissing her off, doing a few crossovers again, he jumped again, but this time, it was a quad Lutz. There was a little more ice on landing than he'd like, but it was still pretty good. He was still really nervous, because Zhou, a seasoned skater, was also competing at the NHK with him. While he wasn't the most consistent, he also had really difficult jump combinations planned out which if landed, could provide him quite a boost.

He continued skating, feeling the burn is his legs, enjoying the cool air. The wind chill used to make his eyes water when he was little, but now he didn't even notice it. The six minute warm-up ended and all the skaters were asked to leave the ice. He would be the second to last skater, and although he had the chance to see how Zhou and Aliev would fare, it would probably make him very nervous, so he decided against watching their performances.

Back at the boards, he put on his headphones and listened to some classical music as he stretched and jumped and ran. He was still really nervous, but he was trying to calm his nerves. He tried to empty his mind, he took deep breathes and sooner than he'd like, it was his turn to perform.

As the last skater waved to the spectators and bowed, he went on the ice and stood in front of Reyna at the boards, who took his hands and squeezed them firmly.

"Okay, Nico, so you remember everything I told you?"

"Yes," he didn't remember anything, he was going to faint, someone get him out of here-

"Take a deep breath, come on,"

He did that, inhaling and exhaling, and he felt a little bit better after that. He looked at Will who just blew him a kiss and smiled, and he just squeezed Reyna's hands once and then skated onto the ice.

He took to the centre and waited for the music, and closed his eyes.

His short program music for this season was The Black Swan, he'd wanted to skate to it for the longest time, Reyna had choreographed it for him and he really gave his soul to this program from the beginning. He wasn't going to disappoint Reyna, nor Will. This was his chance.

At the first jumping pass, he jumped a quad Lutz in combination with a triple loop, flawlessly, feeling unbelievably relieved that it had gone all right. Next was a quad flip, and that went pretty good too, a little more ice on the landing, again, but he was pretty proud of it. He did his spins, which were immaculate, moved on the step sequence and finally started to prepare for the triple axel. He rotated it quite cleanly, only he stepped out of the landing, making the crowd gasp.

As he entered his final combination spin, everyone was clapping so loudly as he could barely hear the music. Nico was unbelievably flexible, he could do spins that no men in the field could do, the best spinner in the field, which helped his grade of execution.

As he finished, the crowd immediately started throwing stuffed animals and flowers on the ice, he watched it with a smile as he tried to catch his breath. He was proud of the combination and the solo jump, he felt sort of sad for the axel though. He relived it once, and then shook his head, it was a good performance, he should be proud of himself.

He smiled and bowed to the crowds and started skating back to Reyna and Will.

Just as he reached the end on the rink, a little girl skated up to him carrying a huge bouquet of roses, which someone from the crowd had thrown. She smiled and gave him the bouquet, and then gave him a hug and Nico almost teared up, it was all worth it, the hard-work, the injuries and the pain. He reached Reyna and Will and-

"How was it?" said Nico, falling into Reyna's embrace.

"It was amazing, the combination was flawless!" she said, patting his head.

"The first male skater to land a quad lutz triple loop combination in competition, Nico, that's amazing!" Will said.

"Yeah, shame about the axel though," he said as they walked to the kiss and cry, the crowd still applauding Nico.

"Yes, but your skating skills and artistic side really shined today, I think that should make it up," Reyna said, looking really proud of Nico, it made Nico feel really good.

"You might score a personal best," she said, sitting down beside him.

"You think so?" said Nico.

"Yep, you were on fire, Nico, the last spin was amazing," Will said, wrapping his arm around him.

"Thanks, Will," he said, smiling.

"The scores, please," the announcer said.

Everything suddenly went pin-drop silent, as the announcer said-

"Nico di Angelo has earned 106.78 in the short program, and is currently in first place," and everyone, literally everyone jumped with excitement. He hugged Reyna and Will, as the crowd shouted it's approval, it was a personal best, just as Reyna had predicted.

After a while, they started making their way backstage, Nico excitedly telling them every detail of his skate. He told them how nervous he was before the combination, how he felt his edge almost slip as he was adding the loop. How good he felt during the step-sequence, and how happy he'd felt when the little girl had given him that bouquet. He'd gotten a lot of gifts from the crowd, which was all piled up in a room backstage. He didn't know what to do with them.

He went through it, got the letters and other stuff that people had made themselves, and he took a black squishmallow shaped like a bat because he loved it.

"What do I do with all this?" he wondered falling on the pile and grabbing Will so that he fell with him, both of them giggling.

"What do you do with these Reyna?" he asked, squishing the black squishmallow.

"I just take some stuff that I find important and donate the rest to any children's hospital nearby," she said, smiling as she leaned against the door.

"Can I do that?" Nico asked, it would mean the world to him if he could help those little kids in any way.

"Of course you can, leave it to me," she said, falling onto the pile next to him.

They sat in comfortable silence, all Nico wanted was to go to their hotel room and sleep-

"You've still got the free program in two days and it's only a seven point lead you've got so-" Reyna said.

"You had to ruin the moment," he said, throwing at stuffed bear at her and she retaliated by throwing a huge stuffed butterfly at him. In a few minutes it was just mayhem, the three of them throwing stuffed animals with at each other and playing on the pile.

Nico had never felt this good. Whatever happened in the free after two days, this was gonna be one of Nico's best memories, just the three of them, enjoying life, enjoying each other's company, having fun like normal teenagers.

This was home and this was family.

#okay so be gentle with me I don't write a lot #tell me how it was tho #too fast? too slow? too boring? #im not that good of a writer #but im really passionate about figure skating #also lemme know if yall want a post explaining all the terms and stuff ive used in this #and also pls give me title suggestions #the black bat squishmallow is p cute bUt #still #i hope yall like it tho❤️❤️❤️ #nico di angelo #percy jackson #will solace #solangelo #trials of apollo #pjo #lester papadopoulos #rick riordan #hoo #toa #source: percy jackson #incorrect percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson and the heroes of olympus #incorrect pjo #incorrect heroes of olympus #incorrect hoo #incorrect hoo quotes #figure skating nico #reyna ramirez avila arellano

[fiction-fun]

It's the final countdown

Da da da da ..dada da da da...

I mean......anywayssss....

Also heads up! I know this post is long but It has a lot of updates and news and things you need to know going forward.

PLEASE READ IT ALL CAREFULLY!

It's the final 48 hours until Valentine's day! And I've made a few decisions!

1) you all got kinda screwed over by me on Christmas, I promised 11 (12?) Stories and only delivered 4.

1a) Yes I've already promised Christm in July

and I'm working on it.

2) Completely forgot Thanksgiving was a thing so y'all didn't get a Thanksgiving day story.

3) you're getting 2 stories for Valentine's day.

4) 1 of the stories Is almost 20k words. It's going to be the first uploaded on Valentine's day itsself.

4a) The second one is much shorter

coming in at only 1430 words. Which

will come out a few days after.

So you have all of that to consider. But into news!

1) I found an old ass story (like 10+ years old) it's garbage and not worth anything but it exists and if you want to see how I've improved, I can post it (or pieces of it... It really is trash)

2) I have ideas for at least 2 more stories.

3) my Requests are OPEN I currently have 1 and will be rb'ing the info post right after this so you can find out what I will write for.

4) I'm open to answering any questions regarding stories, myself or anything else

4a) send asks? Ive shared multiple story

games....you'll just have to let me know

5) Currently I don't know if I can do another holiday story before maybe the 4th of July? But I'm also doing Christmas in July so I may not do anything again (holiday wise) until Halloween.

what game your asking for. Ask game

can be found under "#ask games"

5a) you CAN 100% request holiday

related stories. That being said

if I don't know the holiday, I may

not be able to write for it.

6) Please be Patient with requests! I burnt myself out last time by trying to do requests within a week of getting them! That's just not sustainable!

6a) That being said if I get an idea easily

I may be able to finish some within

a few days It depends on the story.

I think that's everything...... Anyways! I'll see y'all soon!

#not fanfiction #not a fanfic #not a fic #blog news #story update #blog info #fanfic info #fic request #ask request #info for the future

[my-autistic-things]

Guess who's making a "how to manage dealing with a massive list of edits" post instead of working on said edits! Me!

Ok so this has taken me FOREVER to really figure out and implement in my life so I thought I'd make a post about it. This is how I deal with getting edits back after sending in a paper (specifically my thesis proposals) to my mentor.

Step 1. Open the document.

This is the absolute hardest step. No seriously. It is. You get the email back, you see the attachment with their initials at the end of the doc name, you know there's edits in there, the email says "here you go! Good work!" That day, ASAP, download that attachment and open it briefly, to scan just how terrifying this task will be.

Step 2. Close it and cry. (Tears are optional but the soul crushing feeling of being on your 5th round of edits is not).

It's okay, deal with it tomorrow. Seriously, go work on something else while you emotionally recover.

Step 3. Mentally prepare yourself to do the edits.

Put it on your to do list for tomorrow. Then when you don't do it, put it on the next day. And the next day. Even when you know it's impossible to get to, put it on there because the stress will build and you'll eventually get to it and Not forget it exists (vvvvv important).

Step 4a. Actually start your edits by opening the doc.

Don't set out like you're going to do everything in one sitting. Open the document with the intention of Starting, not doing. This is a mental battle. Yes battle. Having a good strategy will trump any "smarts" or writing ability you have.

Step 4b. Get out a notebook to write down what you have to do.

If you have do a split screen and can write in a separate document, go ahead, but I found that the absolute only way I can make progress is if I fullscreen my doc and have a notebook and pencil to write stuff down. Now you have 1) doc open, 2) notebook in front of you. Yes these are considered a whole ass step bc they are.

Step 5. Go through and accept all the edits and write down things to do as they come up.

Skip that "read your edits first!" bullshit, you won't, you'll just get stressed, then you gotta reread it all over when you actually start editing. Dive right into dipping your toe in. DO NOT start fully editing. Look at each revision and decide if it's a Quick Fix (i.e. click "accept change" in Word) or a Task. If it's a Quick Fix, go ahead and do it. If it's a Task, even if it's just revising a singular sentence, write it in your notebook. Don't worry about an order/priority/anything, just write everything down. If you're doc is longer than a few pages (mine is 26 so...yeah) write down the page number along with the Task.

Step 6. Organize your Tasks.

Now you have gone through your whole doc and there's no little spelling errors, grammar mistakes, or simple edits to make. And most importantly, you have a list of bigger edits to do, start to group the Tasks. This is when it starts to get super individualized (to you, your paper, and your mood). I start with going through and marking with a line anything I am in the mood for, can do, or should do today (or first, and by first I mean "now" vs "ehhhh later").

Step 7a. Go through your marked Tasks and make more marks.

Only focusing on the initially marked Tasks, start to group them into stuff you can do together. For me, this is any simple info that needs to be inputted or sentences that need editing. My dash next to these Tasks gets turned into plus mark. Note this is the simplest edits I will need to make. You can also designate the initial dash to be its own grouping, but it should naturally end up like that at the end.

Step 7b. Go through marked Tasks again and do the same thing with a different grouping.

Relooking at my dashed Tasks, excluding my + Tasks, I make more groupings. Now it's more time consuming stuff like finding more resources, or rereading sources to be able to accurately edit the sentence. This new group now get more lines to be an asterisk!

Step 7c. Make even more marks!

Can your Tasks be further grouped??? Probably! If you have a short paper, maybe you only have like two groupings, but maybe you have like 5. Who knows! Get creative with your marks! The Tasks I'm designating as last/a lot of work and comprehension are an asterisk with a circle around them. If it's been a few weeks since you asked for edits, you probably will need to work A LOT harder on paragraph and key sentence revisions if you out those first than if you put them after you've been immersed in your topic for a couple hours.

Step 7d-z. Keep making groupings depending how many Tasks you have. I'd suggest keeping it to 2-5 Tasks per group so it's manageable but not excessive. For this particular round of edits, I have 5 groups and that's perfect.

Step 8. Find the easiest/quickest group and do all those Tasks.

My first grouping I made of sentence edits will be the easiest I think, so I'll do that first! If you're motivated and inspired to do a harder group, go for it! But again, do something that will allow you to start really working without being overwhelmed.

Step 9. Cross off all the First Group Tasks you've done!

Yes this is its own step! Cross them all off! You did a good job! Erase them! Get a Sharpie and black that line out of existence! Yay!

Step 10-?. Keep doing the Tasks in each group until you're out of groups and Tasks!

Step 11-?. Cross off the groups and Tasks! Seeing your progress visually makes a big difference! You got this!

Step 12. Read over any non-task comments your teacher/mentor has made and/or your entire paper. Make sure everything makes sense!

Step 13. Save the doc with the date you finished your edits (or fudge it and say sorry forgot to send it to you lol) and send it back to your teacher/mentor (if applicable; if you only get one round and it's not a proposal or something then you'd just submit it). In your email, briefly go over what you did. This is when grouping tasks really comes in handy because I can reference "oh yeah all these edits were x type of edits" and I can say "I accepted all your in-text edits and made the sentence changes you suggested. Additionally, I added abc sources and rearranged the order of the paragraphs specified." This also avoids your mentor re-reading everything and giving you MORE edits on everything (bc they will; this round my mentor is editing his own words from past sentence edits at various places lol) and just focusing on the key changes you made and need feedback on.

Step 14. Take a nap! Seriously! Reward yourself for doing such a Big Thing and take a break! Don't immediately go onto the next assignment, make sure your brain separates *chunk of edits* from *other simpler assignments* so it isn't mentally a whole block of *work*.

I hope this helps somewhat??? Or someone can reference this when coming up with a way to tackle feedback that works for them. I'm starting grad school next year (hopefully) which will actually be a reduction in long-term research projects lmao but I will be having more Giant papers that will receive feedback. Having a system, or knowing options is so incredibly helpful for me because when I read what other people do I can be like "nope not doing that" and it can help narrow down what would work for me. Most importantly, just break up your work into a lot of different sections! It helps with (poor) executive functioning, motivation, and brings it out visually so you can mentally tackle what you're doing instead of "ahhh ~lots of edits~"

#college #writing #paper edits #thesis edits #max tries to give advice #i think ibe significantly procrastinated enough now lol #to do list

[melmac78]

The first chapter of the Tracy’s doing the Overnight/Live Aboard program. It’s a WIP, and and will take a bit to finish as I’ve got to rewrite a couple of scenes as I found they’re implausible. (There are some minor liberties taken on the program, but I try to have anything that can be visited IRL accurate).

These pics correlate to the opening chapter.

Notes: the berth described in story is not exact to the above: The one I stayed in is the door and by the women’s Head (bathroom, accurate as they also have showers), and the quarters displayed above are part of a tour. Also, my headcanon is Texas was allowed to become an independent republic again in the future.

Enjoy.

••••••

Scott Tracy was in love - again. She had sleek curves, a graceful nose, beautiful blue and gold colorings... and long graceful wings.

He stared at the real Navy Blue A-4 Skyhawk Blue Angel that "flew" on a tall, solid pedestal as though soaring the skies.

Scott could imagine being behind the wheel of the plane, zooming through the air to help serve his country. The swooping, diving and turning were all quite vivid in his head, and he got lost in his imagination.

In fact, Scott was so deep in his dream he didn't notice the world around him trying to get his attention - nor the fact he was grabbed and thrown into a fireman's carry.

It wasn't until he saw grey concrete and rough, seashell laden sand - and someone's shoulders hitting Scott in the gut - he realized he was even moving.

Scott finally was snapped out of his thoughts, aided by the crisp, salty air of the Gulf of Mexico. "Hey! Let me go! Put me down!" said the pilot, gently pounding on the man's left shoulder blade.

A gentle base voice laughed. "Sorry birthday boy but there's plenty more to see than your 'girlfriend'," laughed Virgil as he continued to walk the man a short distance to the front entrance of the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi, the Texas Republic.

The aircraft carrier, commissioned February 17, 1943, was the fifth one by that name. The previous one - CV-2 was sunk in the Coral Sea during World War I, and people chose to rename a newly built carrier from USS Cabot to Lexington in her predecessor's honor.

The nickname Blue Ghost, coined by Tokyo Rose, was created when the Japanese thought she had been sunk four times, but came back.

She was kept in service until formally decommissioned in 1992, and now had been a museum for almost 70 years.

When Texas was allowed to become its own independent constitutional republic again in 2047, the United States allowed the carrier to still be on display in the Gulf as part of a history sharing program.

When Grandma Tracy gave a Live Aboard trip to Scott for his birthday, he suggested they all go. He said it was all he wanted for his birthday - a trip through history of course, experiencing life on an aircraft carrier, but also spending time with his family.

They would be camping in the old crew quarters below deck as part of the program, as well as enjoy meals in the mess hall and see other sites in Corpus Christi, including the Texas State Aquarium and museums in the area.

Even John happily agreed to come down and stay on Earth for the two nights they would spend camping on board the vintage aircraft carrier, so it was for once the entire family.

Admittedly though no one knew how much excitement this trip would bring for the family.

It was already a struggle for them to keep Gordon from dashing off to the visit the marine wildlife and rehabilitation centers at the aquarium. His invite to feed the fish - inside the aquarium in his scuba gear - and the dolphins wasn't until two days later.

Now, just like Scott had done to Gordon over the aquarium, Virgil had to carry him away to get to where they were supposed to go.

"Oh come on Virg - she's not my girlfriend," said Scott, rolling his eyes as he lightly bopped his brother's head.

Virgil scoffed. "Yeah right - you also have to flirt with the TA-4 Skyhawk, T-2C Buckeye, SNJ-5 Texan, KA3B Skywarrior, N3N Yellow Peril, F/A-18 Hornet, 4A Phantom 2..." he said as he then gently set his brother down beside his others. They had their sleeping bags and backpacks bundled together for the two-night stay, packing clothing and other supplies needed.

What many didn't know there was another special "guest" on board - Thunderbird Four. She was boarded late the night before on a special elevator remaining active on the ship. The other 'Birds were ready to fly with EOS' autopilot at a moment's notice from Tracy Island.

While none of the Tracys thought any vehicle would be needed, they wanted to be ready just in case. Kayo was also on standby, staying at a nearby hotel with a helicopter landing on the rooftop to quickly board Shadow.

Scott chuckled in concession. "All right - I'm the 'Bachelor' for a bunch of aviator beauties," he said looking at the ship. "At least I'm not Gordon and want to kiss a sea turtle or otter."

"Hey - that was in my dreams," said Gordon, who then realized it only made things worse. He chuckled. "Yeah... well, I admit I'm wanting to go to the aquarium already, but I've also been looking forward to staying on the Lexington. I finally get to teach you a thing or two about ship life."

Alan chuckled. "Yeah, such as how to get stuck in the brig for hours misbehaving," he teased.

The aquanaut shook his head. "Can't do that bro - the brig is on the hard-hat tour, and Grandma couldn't get us on that one. Filled up."

"Doesn't mean they couldn't put you in the photo op brig," chuckled John, who was sitting on a large ship anchor as he finished his bottled water and snack.

They laughed at the remark as Virgil sat down by his red-headed brother. "How are you feeling bro? Do you need some more water?" he asked seriously.

John shook his head, waving off the remark. He was still suffering space sickness compounded with a rough descent in Thunderbird Five's space elevator two days prior. It had been bad enough he scared his brothers by passing out shortly after they greeted him in the living room.

They all had been worried his "space sickness" would keep him from going, but Virgil and Brains gave him the OK, as long as he ate and drank whatever he was given by the medic or brothers. They already had told him he'd be buying mozzarella sticks - a specialty - at the concession stand the moment after they got settled on board.

"I'm fine, besides - looks like we're about to start our adventure," John said, nodding toward the middle age man walking up to them.

"The Tracy brothers correct - Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon and Alan?" said the man, and the five nodded. "Just wanted to be sure. Your grandmother had already checked in with the girls from the local YMCA. Said though she was going to head to the Wardroom's mess to fix you dinner."

The five brothers gasped in horror, and the man chuckled. "Don't worry - we have people hired to cook the meals. We told her to rest and wait until Scott's birthday celebration - but only bring store bought foods."

Gordon wiped his forehead in a melodramatic fashion. "Whew! for a moment there I was afraid we'd end up getting something that closely resembles SOS."

Alan looked at his older brother, confused. "What's SOS?"

"Well it's also known as Sh..."

Virgil quickly clamped a hand over his seafaring brother's mouth. "Corned beef hash on toast," he said, glaring at Gordon. "SOS is a nickname for the food, and I'd better not hear you say it fully."

Gordon rolled his eyes but conceded.

Alan made a vow to himself to quietly ask his immediate older brother later - out of Virgil's earshot - what the acronym stood for.

The Lexington worker laughed. "Well, now that's settled, let's get started on your Live Aboard program. My name is Jacob Cobalt, and I'll be the ship leader during the next two days aboard the USS Lexington," he said. "Shortly I'll take you aboard so you can unpack in the berthing quarters. You'll be staying in the same area as the Boy Scouts, but have a berth to yourself."

The others nodded. They knew a couple of the workers were informed by the GDF about the need for the five to have their own quarters. Their berth would be slightly smaller than the larger groups, but they would be able to store their IR uniforms without the worry of prying eyes looking through lockers.

Jacob continued. "That said, you'll still have to follow the same rules of the Live Aboard, which means first, you must show proper decorum on this ship. It is a memorial to those who fought and died on it for freedom. Secondly, you have to obey whatever command I say…" he said, smirking before he then changed to a drill instructor tone. "So line up at attention! Backs straight and tuck in your shirt tails!"

The result was a slight comedy of errors when John tripped over a sleeping bag and crashed into Virgil, making both tumble to the ground. As they did they bumped into Gordon's shoulder, making him back into the anchor. Thankfully, all he did was sit on it.

"You have 10 seconds to get in line and shirt tails tucked and get in line," said the ship leader.

Everyone got in line and their tails tucked in by the count of 10 - except Scott.

Jacob clicked his tongue, disappointed. "You of all people - retired Air Force - can't get your shirt tucked in quickly?" he said, motioning Scott to come forward. "Well... I guess you get to give an example of what we do if someone's caught with their shirt untucked."

The other four Tracys laughed. "Oh boy, Flyboy got in trouble," said Gordon, teasing.

Scott gave a feral grin. "Don't think I won't be watching for my chance to get even..." said the eldest as he stood by Jacob.

"I think you'll have plenty of chances Scott…" said Jacob with a smile.

The aquanaut made a show of gulping, to everyone's amusement.

"OK...so what's the penalty?" Scott said, wincing. He hoped it wasn't clean the Head with a toothbrush.

"You have to do 15 pushups - the proper way," said the leader with a chortle.

Scott merely laughed and did as he was told - making sure the final five were single-handed to shush Gordon further.

One he did his 15 pushups, Scott returned to the line and Jacob continued. "OK, now we'll head up to the berthing area. Watch for low overhangs, your step on the ladders, and the lips of the doors so you don't trip over them."

John gave a subtle wince. "I thought I hated gravity before..." he muttered, praying he didn't go flying into a bulkhead not paying attention to the floor. He certainly didn't want to wind up ruining Scott's birthday suffering a concussion.

Virgil put a gentle hand on his brother's shoulder. "It's all right John - we'll make sure you don't fall - down or out," he said knowingly as they gathered their items and headed up the long ramp. They admired the exterior of the Blue Ghost, which included weaponry and lifeboat pods.

At the entrance, they received a blue wristband, showing they were part of the Live Aboard program and could stay past visitor hours before looking around the hangar deck. There was a machine that would simulate a flight simulation for guests while a real simulator lay on display nearby.

Other planes with mannequin workers getting it ready for takeoff, military memorabilia, and mockups for photos graced the area as well.

The Tracys however were heading toward a hatch leading to one of the Heads on the ship. “This way gentlemen,” said Jacob.

John leaned over the railing to look at the ladder of stairs and had a slight case of vertigo. "Oh brother, that's a way down," he muttered.

The youngest brother looked at his brother in sympathy. "You'll be OK John. I'll show you how to get down," said Alan as he started his climb down with his backpack. He faced away from the ladder, making his descent very slow.

When he reached the landing, he turned around, realizing he forgot his sleeping bag. "Um, guys, can you -" said Alan, only to be hit in the face with said item.

Looking up, he saw someone chortling. "Very funny Gordo," said Alan, only to be hit in the face again, this time with Gordon's pillow, then sleeping bag.

"Yeah - it is. You just took the worst way to get down these ladders," said Gordon as he turned around and faced the ladder on his descent. He would've slid down the rails as he did on occasion during his WASP stint, but the rungs were wrapped in rope to add grip safety. Gordon certainly wasn't going to let Alan tease him for rope burns.

Eventually, all five managed to make their way down without much incident. John went last just in case he slipped - and when he did three steps from the bottom, Scott and Virgil caught him. John gave a weak smile in thanks.

Jacob then descended and lead them to a doorway marked "Reserved for Live Aboard Only," and lowered the chain before opening the heavy door.

"OK, here's where you'll be staying the next couple of days. You'll use this head in the evenings after hours, and the showers are behind the wall there," he said, then gestured for them to come inside the quarters.

Inside there was a pool table, old fashioned arcade game that still worked nearly 80 years later, sofas and a ping-pong table. Military memorabilia from the wars the Lexington served in: badges, coats worn by sailors, flags, challenge coins, photos, adorned the walls along with mementos from past guests.

Seeing the youngest look over at the entertainment, the eldest sighed. "We're going to have to keep Alan from the video game, or he'll never go on tours," said Scott, knowing the youngest's fondness for antique games.

Alan rolled his eyes. "I can't play them - I don't have any coins," he said, looking at the game. "Besides - it's that old Donkey Kong game - I defeated it years ago."

The others just shook their head as they followed Jacob through a pair of doors. Turning left, they saw a kitchen area, clean but dark and clearly unused for decades.

Once they descended yet another set of ladders, they arrived at their berth. "Make yourselves at home. You can tour any of the paths until mess in the wardroom at 1800 hours," he said.

The Tracys nodded and entered the room, shivering at the abrupt coldness of the berths compared to the rest of the rooms earlier. It had pale olive green walls, tall, thin lockers for storing their items and bunk shelves complete with a thick foam mattress.

There were three levels to the bunks - beds near the ground, middle and near the top.

"Dibs on the top bunk," squeaked Alan as he quickly walked over to the nearest one.

"Hey - I get one," said Gordon.

Scott laughed. "There's enough for all of us to be on the top bunk if we want," he said, though he was going to stay on the middle bunk.

"Not me - I'm not going to fall out and get a concussion," said John, who wisely chose the lowest bunk, which lay about eight inches off the ground.

They chatted and laughed as they wandered around the quarters, choosing and making up their bunks before stuffing their lockers.

After a few minutes, Gordon and Alan walked around to look at where everyone selected to sleep.

Turning one corner, Alan sniggered at the sight in front of him while Gordon coughed to keep from laughing outright.

"Um, International Rescue, we have a situation," the aquanaut said, though his tone was not as serious as the comment would normally entail.

Still though, Scott went into smother hen mode and walked around to the bunks the youngest duo were at, while John followed, interested himself.

When they reached the others, Scott did all he could to keep a serious face himself.

He barely kept it.

"Um Virgil - what on earth possessed you to try and claim a top bunk yourself?" he asked.

The medic was stuck halfway in and out of the bunk, using his feet on the lower bunk to keep the metal edges from pressing into his gut.

In spite of Virgil's wishes and dreams to finally sleep on a top bunk, his large, muscular frame was just too broad to fit through the space between the safety bar, ladder and bed.

"Looks like Papa Bear forgot that those beds are too small for him," said Gordon, laughing.

"Very funny Squidface... can you guys give me a hand?" muttered Virgil.

The brothers laughed and helped assist Virgil down from the top bunk. The man then wisely chose to do the middleman choice and choose the middle bunk - still higher off the ground, but much more space as no bar was needed. He even double checked by effortlessly pulling himself into the bunk, silencing any further teases from Gordon.

Once they ensured everything was in place, and in the cases of the IR uniforms locked in the lockers, Scott turned and faced the others, smiling. "OK - let's take a journey through time... starting with the flight deck," said Scott.

"Of course - got to go see your girlfriends... FAB birthday boy," teased Virgil, and they headed up toward the hangar deck to go on the bridge/flight deck tour.

••••••

To Be Continued …

#thunderbirds are go #gordon tracy #john tracy #virgil tracy #scott tracy #alan tracy

[r3b3lgrrrrrrrl]

A LunaTic and her Gunn (Part 27)

"What Did I Do....."

@creatureofthen1ght-v3

Luna still can't sleep. She gets up, deciding to work on the song that's been rolling around in her head.

🎶Feared life//Feared love//Thought I was fresh//Outta fucks forever//But//I'm trying to start over//With you🎶

Luna finishes the song before grabbing one of her grandmother's larger acoustic guitars and sliding on a pair of sunglasses to cover her ugly cry face. She then records, posts and sends the link to Colson. She misses him and hates that he's not picking up. Her heart hurts as she finally falls asleep.

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

Colson's still partying back in LA. Even though Luna keeps calling, he continues to dick her calls. He's so fucked up, he doesn't even know why anymore.

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

Luna wakes up still feeling exhausted. She tries to call Colson again. It actually rings all the way through this time before hitting voicemail.

She gets up and showered. Throwing on a leopard print cardigan to hide her gunshot wound from her grandmother.

In the kitchen, Opie and Jackson are sitting with her Mom-mom, laughing, joking, catching up. Luna joins them. Her grandmother can tell something's off. Luna tells her she's just tired. Pat knows she's lying but doesn't push her.

"Are you all flying back today?" Pat asks them as Happy joins them.

"Mom-mom, they can't fly, they're felons." Luna tells her.

"Well technically, we can fly. Our PO's just can't know about it." Happy corrects her. Luna rolls her eyes laughing with everyone else.

"Want me to see if Joni will let you borrow the jet?" Luna's Mom-Mom asks her. Luna sighs. She doesn't want to but agrees because it's the safest way to get the guys home. Considering what they did for her, it's the least she can do.

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

Colson wakes up, head pounding not knowing where he is.

"Pants are still on. That's a good thing." He thinks.

"Where the fuck am I?" He sits up holding his head.

"My place, Dick." Ashleigh says kicking him hard on the foot. "And you better not wake the fucking baby up." She threatens.

"What am I doing here?" He asks.

"I don't know what you did last night. I got a call from Benji over at Sound around 4A, saying if I didn't come get you, they were calling the police. By time I got there you were beyond wasted, Kells. Some girl all over you." She's not amused.

"Did you see me hook up with her?" He asks, filled with fear.

"No, but you were trying to drag her into my car, like she was coming with." Ashleigh says sternly. "I don't know what's going on with you and Luna, Kells. You wouldn't say, But she's gonna snap when she finds out about last night. And, she called this morning."

"She did!?" Colson grabs his phone. He has 5 missed calls from Luna and 2 texts. He walks outside to sit on the deck and smoke a joint. He opens the texts before calling her. He's slightly terrified. There's one asking him to please call, then another with a link to her YouTube channel. He suddenly remembers she doesn't have an IG and is extremely thankful. He checks his, trying to recollect last night. There's nothing. He thinks about calling Mod but wants to see what she posted first. He opens the link and clicks on the video. It's titled Brooklyn Bitch and it's her playing an acoustic guitar big enough to hide her body. She's naked except for a pair of sunglasses, he's pretty sure. And something on her left shoulder, that he can't make out. She starts off strumming the G chord.

🎶Feared life🎶Feared love🎶Thought I was fresh outta fucks forever🎶Trying to🎶Start over with you🎶

Looking into the camera, she continues singing.

🎶A Machine🎶His Scene Queen🎶Tattoo skins covered in leather🎶When I dream🎶It's of us two🎶

Flipping between G and F now, she continues her voice dripping. He's hitting the joint.

🎶Oh, Bunny, I miss you on my lips🎶It's me, Your little Brooklyn Bitch🎶Hanging out with the neighborhood kids... Shouting out Bang! Bang! Kiss! Kiss!🎶

Strumming into C7 and F, she floats over the melody. Still smoking, he's mesmerized by Luna.

🎶We're in the yard🎶The joints on fire🎶And as the day begins to slip away🎶All that glitters somehow stays🎶I'll write, you'll tour, we'll make it work🎶You're beautiful and I'm insane🎶We're American made🎶

She's back to G, starting the same chord structure over again.

🎶Don't need🎶A Hallmark🎶Just want You as My Lover🎶Twist Norman Rockwell 🎶To fit our punk view🎶You&Me🎶Obscene🎶No one and nothing matters🎶Except all the Bad Things, we do🎶Oh, Bunny, I need you on my lips🎶It's me, Your little Brooklyn Bitch🎶Hanging out with the neighborhood kids... Calling out Bang! Bang! Kiss! Kiss🎶We're in the yard🎶The joints on fire🎶And as the day begins to slip away🎶All that glitters somehow stays🎶I'll write, you'll tour, we'll make it work🎶You're beautiful and I'm insane🎶We're American made🎶

She hums changing the chords to Em F Am

🎶If you weren't mine🎶I'd be jealous of your love🎶If you weren't mine🎶I'd be jealous of your love🎶If you weren't mine🎶I'd be jealous of your love🎶 She smoothly fades out. Looking over her sunglasses and smiling at him before shutting off the camera.

"FUUUUCCK...." What did I do? Colson worries. His heart dropping. He calls Mod immediately.

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

Luna's flying back to LA. She doesn't know fucking why. She hasn't talked to Colson since she walked out on him yesterday morning. Her shoulders killing her. She looks around, it seems everyone's knocked. She pops a 30 and sparks a joint. The smell draws Jackson out. He uses it as an excuse to sit beside her as she side eyes him.

"I'm sorry." He says when she finally passes him the joint. "I just thought, when you were ready, you would want me."

She sighs, watching him hit it. "It's the same thing you did to me with Tara..." She starts to explain.

"Is that what THIS is about?" He interrupts her.

"Jesus Fuck, Jax. NO. Can you listen?" She takes the joint from him as punishment, hitting it hard. He's silent. "Like I was trying to say, there's no doubt in my mind that you loved me Jax, or even still do love me. There's also no doubt in my mind that you didn't plan to meet and fall in love with Tara, while I was gone either." She shrugs, wincing, hitting the joint again before handing it back. "It's the same thing with Colson. I didn't plan to meet and fall in love with him either." She looks into his sad eyes. "I'm sorry. Bad timing."

"Yeah." He says, giving her the joint and going back to his seat.

She hits the joint again, feeling the perc kick in. "I fucking hate dudes." She thinks to herself, sliding her sunglasses on.

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

Colson talks to Mod. "Nah, Dawg!! You were funny as hell last night... Share all the drugs, the drinks, dance with all the bitches but anytime one of 'em tried to push up on you, your big ass hand said 'No, Bitch!' You were palm smashing bitches like the incredible Hulk." Mod laughs loudly.

"So, I didn't hook up with anyone?" Colson asks, confused. "Why wouldn't I speak to Loons?"

"Because you was pissed she was wit her ex, Kid." Mod tells him matter of fact.

"Ah. Good shit..." Colson sighs, relieved but still upset with himself.

They talk a bit more about the wild night before, bits and pieces coming back to Colson.

After he hangs up. He tells Ashleigh he's in the clear. She lectures him about about being close to the limit. He agrees with her for one of the first times ever. Catching an uber home he Snaps Luna. He doesn't even know where she is.

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

To be continued.....

#mgk #mgk fanfic #machine gun kelly #fangirl #long reads #lovestory #mgk imagine #mgk smut #colson baker #fandom #fanfic #lunatic #mgk x reader #not safe for minors #not safe for tumblr #series #drugs #fantasy #love story #music #drinking #marijuana #violence #sons of anarchy #jackson teller #new york #est4life #los angeles #brooklyn

[fairytalegf]

How was your day? :D it's better to choose something you'll love than to choose for the job opportunities, so i'd say follow what you really want to do :) a rewatch sounds good! I'm currently doing a rewatch from the start , i've been stuck in 4A for a few weeks bc uni is asking a little more work but i'm falling for them all over again :')) The episode i watched the most is the cs movie, then it's more getting youtube open and put the compilation of cs scenes on than actually rewatching (1/2)

entire episodes. Do you have some songs/singers recs? I’m looking for some new stuff to listen to. Or better yet do you’ve got songs that make you think of cs so i can be emo over them? -csss (2/2)

ahh my day was ok, stressful as usual but at least i haven’t had a breakdown lol. what about you? :D

yeah i hope i go down a road i’m really interested in. it’s not that i hate science courses, i’m just scared i’ll fail my courses. but whatever happens happens i guess lol.

ugh i actually rlly love 4a, i love the emma development we got and all the great cs development :”) and lmao when i’m too lazy to rewatch episodes i do the same. the one hookandemma channel on youtube is doing god’s work tbh

ahh to be completely honest i’ve just been listening to what’s on the charts and ts’s reputation over the past few weeks haha. also i keep going back to great orchestral tracks from the game of thrones soundtracks and imagining cs in aus rip (i have been giving archis a few listens tho, their songs are really nice!) do you have any song recs? i could also use some music to de stress!

#answered #cs secret santa 17 #Anonymous