#I could list other examples but that would just pad things out

[bengals-barnesbabe]

parenthood w/ mrs. burrow ~ blurb

wc: 855 ish

joe burrow masterlist

The house is quiet, which is extremely rare for 2 PM, but by some divine intervention, all the kids are napping at the same time. So you're using this time to catch up on your new hobby, crocheting. You’re not that good yet, but that’s from a lack of practice.

Your husband walks into the room as you're undoing your last stitch.

“I see those lessons from my mom didn’t really work.” He smirks, lying down on the couch with his head on your lap.

You roll your eyes and attempt the stitch again. “For someone in choking distance, I’d keep your mouth shut.”

“Like you’d ever choke me, but I might return the favor if you’re lucky.” He winks, earning a smile from you.

You lean down and place a small kiss on his nose.

“What, that’s all I get?”

“Yup, and speaking of your mom… I saw her on the news making your favorite. I’m not gonna say it because-

“Because it’s on the long list of foods I have to stay away from during the season? Yeah thanks for the reminder.” He groans dramatically, turning his body and smushing his face in your thighs.

“Aww my poor baby…” Putting your failed project aside to rake your fingers through his soft hair and lightly scratch his scalp.

“Mmmhmm..” He relaxes under your touch and hums against your leggings. “Yup, poor me. Poor poor me..”

You snort, continuing the scalp massage. Letting your blunt nails glide along the tender skin and pads of your fingers rub with just the right amount of pressure to induce his light moans and groans of pleasure.

After a few minutes, his body is completely relaxed as you’ve lured him into a light slumber. Reflexively, your fingers part and scoop strands of his hair into small braids throughout his head.

Snapping out of the trance you were in, you have to hold back your giggles as you take in your work. Biting your bottom lip, you reach over for your phone to snap a picture. But the second your hands leave his head, he looks up at you. His face relaxed, eyes half open and pink lips curled into a soft closed mouth smile.

“You know, I was just thinking…” He starts, seemingly unaware of his current hair situation. “You should go on the news and talk about your job.”

Your shoulders untense, and a smile finds your features as well. He understands how much you enjoy working with youth and counseling them on navigating the pressures of adolescence while maintaining a healthy state of mind.

“You’re a great youth counselor, the kids love you… All kids love you, even mine.” He smiles lazily, putting his head back down in your lap.

“Your kids are my kids, baby.”

“Exactly. They love you like I love you.” You have a soft spot for when he gets like this. His tone was loving, relaxed, and almost slurred as if he were under the influence.

“Well, Mr. Burrow, that would mean I have to make something original on the show.” You ponder the idea for less than a minute, then mutter. “The only things I know how to make from scratch are babies.”

His usually boisterous, carefree laughter is muffled by the fabric of your leggings, but you can feel his wide smile warming your skin. “I love doing that with you.”

“I know you do. There’s a reason why we have 3 under 4.” You chuckle.

“What can I say, we make great babies.” He turns to face you once more then leans up to kiss your lips, his lips move slow and almost cautious against yours. He smiles softly against yours when you begin to kiss back, before taking your chin driving his lips more passionately against yours.

Your love for each other speaks for itself as your lips move rhythmically against his. Nothing could possibly interfere with the peace and serenity of this moment except maybe the yells and cries coming from upstairs, from two distinct examples of that love.

You pull away with a sigh, but it’s not of disappointment; your smile mirrors his. “I think our presence is needed.” You chuckle softly.

“Yeah, I’ll go investigate the damage our offspring have caused.” Joe pecks your lips once more, then lifts himself off the couch and jogs upstairs.

He reacts only after you hear the door to your son’s room open. “Oh shit.”

Usually he’s able to handle your munchkins all by himself, but the four letter word he mutters worries you.

“Babe!?” You call out, promptly standing from the couch.

“Uhhhh... Thing Two had a blowout on Thing One’s bed.” He relays as the cries only get louder.

“I just cleaned-” You shake your head, neglecting to finish the thought because this is just one of the joys of motherhood. “You handle bath time, I’ll strip the sheets!”

“Got it!” He replies as you grab an old laundry basket, then join them upstairs in your oldest son’s room.

“At least Princess is okay.” You mutter, pulling off the soiled sheets.

“Mama!”

Nevermind.

“Dada’s hair funny!”

a/n: inspired by the interview @joecoolburrow posted. i wrote this in one sitting, first time in forever for that. so... how my people doing? I'm currently in the finals trenches with 4 different injuries, but I'm doing grrrreat..

[in1-nutshell]

Can i request a bot buddy deadpool who's similar to deadpool and won't hesitate to maul someone to death? Let alone act insane and crack jokes to point that he's breaking the 4th wall and just playing some music while fighting and having a good sense of crazy humor.

Can this interaction be with Transformers Prime or Transformers Rid 2015.

I am going to enjoy doing a crossover between this Buddy and Quickhatch in the future.

Hope you enjoy!

Bot Buddy who is like Deadpool

SFW, Platonic, Mention of injuries, Cybertronian reader

TFP

Buddy was a questionable Autobot.

Not just because of his… colorful personality.

It could have been the effect of his outlier abilities.

For example, his frame was not only durable but could quickly mend itself in a matter of minutes.

Buddy and Arcee are watching the explosion in the background. Buddy: “Great work Cee! High five!” Arcee: “Buddy! Your back!” Buddy looks over and sees a giant piece of shrapnel in the middle of his back. Buddy: “Oh, that explains the pinch.” Arcee: “Pinch!? It’s already prodding through your chassis!” Buddy waves her off. Buddy: “I’ll be fine in… an hour?” Arcee sighs tiredly. Buddy: “…Don’t tell Ratchet.” Meanwhile… Ratchet: “…Something just happened…”

The seemingly endless subspaces full of weapons on him.

It was always a surprise to see what would come out of the subspaces.

Bumblebee and Smokescreen would end up trying to do a list of all the weapons they had seen so far.

Buddy is tagging along with the Wreckers on a mission. They are trying to get inside a base. Magnus: “All right. We will proceed in silence and—” Wheeljack: “Since when do Wrecker’s do anything in silence?” Magnus: “For the sake of this mission, now Wheeljack.” Wheeljack shows his servos in fake surrender. Wheeljack: “Fine, fine…” Bulkhead: “You’ll get ‘em last time.” Buddy pulls out a missile launcher from his back. Buddy: “Welp, it’s a good thing I’m not a Wrecker then!” Magnus: “Buddy no! As your Commander--” Buddy: “Sorry Commander Shoulder pads! BOOM! Buddy starts running straight into the bases new entrance. Buddy: “LEROY JENKINS!!” Bulkhead: “PRIMUS HE GET WENT IN!” Magnus: “Who’s Leroy!?” Wheeljack: “What’s a Jenkins?! You know what, never mind. Let’s Wreck ‘n Rule!”

And his ‘other’ ability.

His strange ability to make weird comments to an invisible audience and to have music play in the background for everyone to hear.

Everyone hears it…

Starscream is on one side of the battlefield. Starscream: “What is that annoying noise?” Meanwhile on the other side of the battlefield… Buddy is fighting through the Vechicons. His swords are going through them like butter. Buddy: “I WAS MADE FOR LOVIN’ YOU BABY! YOU WERE MADE FOR LOVIN’ ME!!!!!”

As random and reckless as Buddy could be, he did follow a moral code.

Especially when it came to the team and the kids.

When Buddy was first introduced to the kids, it was a couple days after being on the road.

He had been following a group of Cons for a while.

The bot returned with 5 carts of rock energon, almost bathed in liquid energon and happily reporting that no one followed him.

Jack is a bit distant to the new bot and keeps Raf nearby.

Miko has met her next favorite bot.

Buddy absolutely adores the kids, randomly picking them up, carrying around, and constantly teasing the other bots that he was going to steal their kid.

Arcee brushes it off.

Bee tries to do the same as a joke… but does feel a bit nervous that Raf would want Buddy over him.

Bulkhead flat out tells Buddy that he can be the secondary guardian (before Wheeljack’s arrival, after he became the third guardian).

Ratchet finds Buddy’s frame to be a medical miracle and nightmare.

So many dents and slashes that get mended fast, that was incredible!

Nightmare because it was hard to see Buddy in pain while he mended.

Optimus is thankful that Buddy has stayed by the Autobots side.

Primus knows what would happen if he weren’t.

Buddy is walking fast by Bulkhead and Wheeljack. Bulkhead notices something in his servo. Bulkhead: “Buddy? What’s in your servo?” Buddy stiffens a bit. Buddy shows off a dagger. Buddy: “A knife?” Bulkhead nods slowly. Wheeljack: “And the other?” Buddy slowly shows Miko in the other one before sprinting in the opposite direction. Miko: “SCATTER!” Bulkhead: “Buddy! Let Miko go!” Buddy: “After patrol!” Bulkhead: “No!” Buddy and Miko: “YES!” Wheeljack: “Buddy! For once listen to Bulkhead!” Buddy and Miko: “NEVER!”

[vi0let-writes]

Alright then, may I request Cyno, Xiao and AlHaitham. S/o pranking them, you know that one period prank girlfriend do on their boyfriend?, telling them to go by her some pads with wings. To see what they actually get for her (like would they actually understand the assignment or actually got her pads with Chiken wings thinking that's what s/o meant) or even told them to buy non-existent feminine products for example "help me buy the Super Jumbo Tampons with Wings✨✨✨" that kind of stuff. This is just crack request, wanting to trick these innocent stoic guys hehe~ 😈😈😈 this can be a modern au if you want

The dividers I used are here

thank you SM for the request!!!! This is such a silly idea! There is a screenshot of the messages for each one, and then a written part below, so make sure you don’t miss that!

characters: Alathiam, Cyno, Xiao

includes: Crack, fluff

Alhathiam

“I’m home” Alhathiams voice sounds as he walked through the front door. He made his way into the living room, where you sat on the couch, reading a book. You looked up, seeing your boyfriend with a shopping bag in one hand, and a takeout box in the other.

“oh! Did you get me food too? You’re so sweet!” You cheered happily. He rose his eyebrows confused.

“yeah, the wings you wanted?” He confirmed, his face obviously filled with confusion. You paused for a moment, before realizing that he misinterpreted the request, you then started crackling out in laughter.

“y-you.. thought I mean.. HAhAhaHa! Chicken wings?!” You wheezed out.

“what..?”

“let me see the pads you got.” He nodded, handing you the package over. “Baby, look, here on the package, it says ‘winged’ that’s what I meant” you giggled, taking one out and showing him. “Here, these flaps wrap around to keep them in place.” He looked utterly embarrassed.

“yeah.. I knew that.. I- I.. uh just wanted food..” he tried to play it off.

“it’s okay! I’ll go get these put away and then we can cuddle and eat these!” Alhathiam nodded, ears still red.

Xiao

“Love” a voice suddenly appeared behind you, causing you to jump.

“Xiao! Hi” you sighed out. He fell into your arms, face hiding away from you.

“I’ve failed you..” he grumbled out. “I couldn’t find the feminin product you requested.” You laughed, feeling kinda bad.

“it’s okay sweetie, I was just joking with you! Now I feel bad…” you ran your hands gently through his hair.

“what.. why? I went to 5 different places,people staring at me rummaging through things, and being sad for a silly prank? You have no respect for the Adepti..” he huffed, letting go of you and crossing his arms.

“no Xiao! I’m sorry.. come here, we can cuddle.” You apologized. He just rolled his eyes.

“fine.. only for a bit. I’m a busty person.”

Cyno

Cyno trudged through the front door, and to you in a hurry, 3 bags in his hands. When he came bursting through your bedroom door, your eyes widened in concern.

“Cy, what?” You questioned.

“I’m sorry, I took so long because I went to like 10 places trying to find the ones you mentioned; but I couldn’t… so I just got a bunch of them, you could stack them!” He reasoned, putting the bags down on the bed, revealing MANY boxes of pads. Your eyes widened again in surprise, before you laughed.

“Cy, you don’t stack them for one, also I was pranking you..” your smile was wide. He was quite for a second.

“oh.. haha, darling, I left work! For a prank?!” He sighed. ”what? You could have said that you were working!” A frown appeared on your face.

“hmm, it’s okay, but what do we do with all of these?” He motioned to the pads.

“I’ll use those eventually.” You bummed out a response. “Why don’t we play TCG to make up for it” Cyno pondered your proposal.

”I suppose I could take the rest of the day off”

Hope this was good!

you can leave requests in the “ask me anything”

my list of fandoms is pinned in my blog.

[swbumblebee]

They were having a lovely cosy night. Some nonsense holodrama was on, the heater was blasting and Jedi Master and Time Traveller Plo Koon was idly scrolling through a pad contemplating a second glass of wine. From his own comfortable spot on the sofa next to him, his partner in time travel and Master of the Order Mace Windu sighed and shifted his feet of the caff table next to Plo’s own, not a moment before an alarm on his chrono went off.

Plo grunted questioningly at him, feeling uncharacteristically lazy and sleepy. The other man stretched as he stood up.

“Meeting with Cin about The Tournament” he mumbled back, gathering himself.

“Oh!”

Plo loved The Tournament. He’d missed it so much during the war, that first time round. The annual Coruscant Temple Sabre Tournament was something so special. Seeing aged Masters grumbling good naturedly trying to catch their breath, energetic young Knights teasing each other and Padawans gleefully egging each other on brought a sense of camaraderie and family that was lost forever once the war began.

“I’ll come with you” he decided, ignoring Mace’s surprised expression as he sat up with renewed vigour.

---

Plo tuned out as Mace and Cin Drallig, Battle Master extraordinaire, gestured at charts and catering costs on one of the benches in the corner of the main dojo. Neither seemed to mind his presence, Cin seemed unsurprised when they came as a pair.

While he left the boring logistics to the two senior Jedi he scrolled through the contenders list, comforted by the familiar names and intrigued by some interesting matches. It would be a lively affair.

He frowned, noticing something as he got to the Knights section.

Kab…

Kedib…

Kirin…

Krag…

He frowned further, checking the Senior Padawan section just in case.

Nope, not what he was looking for.

“Has Knight Kenobi not signed up for the tournament?” he asked loudly, interrupting the other two and not caring one bit. He got a pulse of mild irritation from Mace but interestingly, Cin simply let out a breath.

It wasn’t compulsory for every Jedi to take part in the tournament but there was certainly an obligation, particularly for Knights, to act as an example for their peers. To learn from each other and to inspire the next generation. It was just the Done Thing.

The Battle Master for the temple looked uncharacteristically perturbed.  

“Kenobi…” he sat back and folded his thick arms, pausing, and Plo saw Mace’s face sharpen in stern worry.

“He’s been here… a lot, in the past few months. At funny times.” Cin said, clearly picking his words carefully. “I’ve been helping him along, but most of the time I’m not here. I only see his name on the sign in sheet at all hours of the night.” He explained slowly.

Plo and Mace exchanged glances. That wasn’t good.

“Hmm. He didn’t sign up last year I assume, for obvious reasons” Mace asked with raised eyebrows.

Cin nodded.

“He’s changed his form since then, I’ve tried to ask him about it a couple of times but you know how he is.” He had a familiar look of exasperation on his face. Plo knew it well. When he didn’t want to, there wasn’t a force in the Galaxy that could make Obi-Wan Kenobi talk. Plo remembered it only got worse with age, to the infuriation of Sith across the galaxy that first time around.

Mace sighed and leaned back.

---

The Master of the Jedi Order cursed to himself under his breath and barely resisted the urge to grumble at nothing. He knew Obi-Wan somehow managed to function on dangerously little sleep (at all ages, apparently) but he himself had never managed to master the skill and his mood was as dark as the Courscant sky outside, at 3rd hour. Plo had offered to go, but Mace had a worrying suspicion it would end in a cuddle and a nap rather than what was necessary.

He was trying not to dwell on how suspicious he looked, loitering outside the main Dojo at this time of night, when his quarry came quietly and around the corner apparently deep in thought.

23-year-old Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi came to an abrupt and (rather comical) startled stop.

“Master!”

“Good evening, or should I say, good morning, Obi-Wan” Mace made no move to step away from the door to the dojo, but neither towards the young man in front of him.

“I…Hello there, Master. What…” the young man faltered, clearly still trying to find his footing. “What…are you doing here?” he asked cautiously.

Mace noted he definitely wasn’t at his best. Obviously not as well put together as he was in the daylight hours, there was none of the usual perceptive glint behind his eyes, his hair had obviously been pushed hurriedly into place and his robe was nowhere to be seen.

Mace shrugged.

“Shall we?” he gestured to the door behind him, entering the dojo.

Obi-Wan looked at the door dubiously before following.

“So.”

They stood in the vast hall, facing each other. Mace was very conscious they had both taken up sparring positions. So be it.

“So” he repeated calmly. “Do you want to tell me why you are practicing at this force-forsaken hour or shall I beat it out of you?” he asked politely with a smile, shifting his stance a little.

The young mans eyes narrowed.

“I don’t know what you mean Master, the Dojos are open all hours, surely encouraging practice at all hours” came the similarly polite answer.

Mace rolled his eyes.

“Fine.” He ignited his purple blade and assumed the opening stance of his favoured form, Vaapad.

“Come on then” he instructed the Knight. Obi-Wan’s eyes widened a little in surprise upon realising his mentor was serious, but then were filled with resolve as he too changed his stance.

And then immediately Mace Windu had the breath knocked out of his chest when, instead of the classic Ataru that he’d come to associate with the young Obi-Wan (indeed, the form he had become known for after using it to defeat Darth Maul) he was instead faced with the dramatic stance of Soresu.

He cursed himself, Cin had mentioned it but seeing it was something he had not been prepared for.

Lightsabre parallel to the floor and left arm extended with fingers pointing towards him, for a split second it wasn’t vulnerable, unsure Knight Kenobi Mace was seeing, it was the fearsome Master Kenobi. The Master of Soresu, and his comrade in arms. He’d seen that stance in the very worst of situations and every time it meant hope and determination.

“...Master?”

He was snapped back to the present by the slightly awkward prompt from the young man in front of him.

He grunted, trying to find his mental footing again.

“Not all of us are at our best at third hour young Obi-Wan” he grumbled, gratified when he got the ghost of a smile in response.

“Now then, let’s begin. And we will be speaking when I win” Mace warned, very clearly the Master of the Order.

Obi-Wan said nothing, his lips thinning as the match began.

---

The Master was gratified to see the young knight was panting a little as he yielded the match. Mace hadn’t won against Master Kenobi very often, in that first time around. It was good to know he still had some years left to enjoy it.

But not long, he noted. The young Knight was not there yet of course, but it he was good. Incredibly good for a Jedi of his level, using a difficult form. Mace was impressed.

“That was impressive. Very impressive Obi-Wan” he said, clapping him on the back as they both made to sit on the benches around the side of the dojo, Obi-Wan seemingly having lost the energy that fuelled his usual stubbornness, he allowed himself to be led by Mace.

“You’ve changed form.” the elder Jedi pointed out, cutting straight to the point. It was too early for beating around the munjabush.

“I have.” The young man beside him was looking at the floor as he answered. Mace felt the atmosphere in the room dip, the force tingling in his ears.

“Why?”

There was a pause. Obi-Wan kept looking at the floor.

Mace sighed.

“I hope you know, Obi-Wan, that you can tell me anything.” He said gently, projecting trust and safety at him through the force.

His young companion looked up at him with a watery smile. He took a breath.

“After Qui-Gon, after Naboo” he started slowly, seemingly choosing his words carefully “I kept trying…” he faltered, a faraway quality to his voice.

“Every time I started Ataru, I was back there behind the ray shields.” he said softly, looking down at the floor again. “After a bit of trial-and-error, it appeared to be a trigger for me, so I decided to change forms. Soresu seemed like a natural choice, I have a Padawan to defend now after all.”

Mace starred at him, finding himself once again at a loss. He knew Obi-Wan had changed forms at some point, but he’d never really given it much thought first. Lots of Knights experimented with new forms as soon as they were out of their Master’s shadow. But they generally didn’t do it incognito.

“Is that why you’ve been pushing yourself so hard? Coming here at all hours on top of everything else?” he asked, keeping his voice gentle.

His companion cleared his throat.

“It was difficult, at first. I didn’t…didn’t want anyone to know in case…” He trailed off.

Understanding dawned for Mace.

“In case you couldn’t do it.” He clarified, dismayed when he got a silent nod in return.

“Obi-Wan” Mace didn’t quite know what to say, working very hard to release his complicated emotions into the Force before the suddenly fragile man next to him picked up on them. Not least his slightly irrational anger.

“Please, please tell me you didn’t think we’d reject you or punish you because you couldn’t pick up a lightsabre.” He asked with a groan. The young man looked up at him in shock at the judgement in Mace’s tone. Giving him his answer.

“Er…”

Mace turned to him and shook his head in disbelief.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi, you are a talented, intelligent person who is an asset to the Order in more ways than I can list at this time in the morning. You are worth far more than your warrior skill” he took a breath, taking in the bewildered and slightly alarmed face next to him. “And I am sorry that that hasn’t been made clear to you.” He finished with a gentler tone, shame swelling slightly within him.

He felt a slight tug on his bond with Plo, the other Master picking up on the maelstrom he was feeling. They’d have to meditate later.

Obi-Wan obviously didn’t know what to say, and Mace was satisfied to let the words sink in for a moment.

“Do you think, perhaps, that it might be prudent for you to speak to someone about all this?” he suggested lightly. “We have an entire wing of Mind healers for a reason, my friend.”

Obi-Wan chewed his bottom lip, looking achingly young.

“I don’t know” he said slowly. “Qui-Gon never really liked…” he trailed off again, looking at the floor.

Mace rolled his eyes.

“Yes well, Force love him he was a good friend but Qui-Gon was a complicated man and let’s be honest, could be a bit of an idiot at times” he said, making sure his fondness for his old friend was obvious, pleased when it brought another watery smile out of his young friend.

“Maybe.” He admitted.

Mace decided to take what he could get.

“Please think about it. If you like, Plo or I could go with you” he offered. This time he did get a full smile and a slight eye roll in response.

“I’m sure I can handle it Master, I’m perfectly capable-“

“I know I know!” Mace held up his hands in defence “Just the offer is there.”

He stood up.

“Now then, time for bed I think” he activated his Senior Master mode, suddenly all business. “Please stop practicing at stupid hours of the morning, you’re making Master Drallig nervous. Sign yourself up for some proper tutoring” he instructed.

“Yes Master” Obi-Wan stood with a bow of acquiescence before they moved together towards the doors.

“Oh and Obi-Wan” Mace caught him as they closed the doors and stood in the silent corridor. “Do think about signing up for the tournament. You have a lot to offer.” He suggested.

The other Jedi hesitated.

“I…I will Master” he promised with a dip of his head.

“That’s all I ask” Mace reassured.

After they separated with one final bow of goodbye, Mace leant against the cool wall in relief, letting his emotions wash over him and into the Force, with the Force equivalent of a grunt from Plo down their bond.

He’d never known about Obi-Wan’s seemingly classic case of PTSD. And the obvious fear of rejection made his unrelenting quest for perfection and independence, that first time around, make sense.

But not this time. Mace smiled. They had a long way to go, but acknowledgement and mind healers were good, and Mace and Plo would be there every step of the way. This time.

[calamityjimao3]

Writing Advice 9-speaking to a crowd

So today we are gonna shift a little bit from story structure and focus more on commercialization. I am not going to tell you how to do it because I don’t know how to make money off of writing, but I am going to tell you the most important thing to remember if you are selling writing be it as an author or a showrunner. 

Your audience is your friend. They are the greatest friend you have. They are your income and your advertising. They are the people who give you a lift if you do a spin off, a sequel, or even break into something new. They are more important than your editor. 

You need your audience. 

Which means you need to set aside the weight of your own ego and treat your audience right. 

The advice I have is to never ever be clever. You can make smart decisions, you can write twists and turns, foreshadow, introduce unexpected challenges, but you must never do anything just because it will surprise your audience. The audience can tell the difference between a genuine jump scare and a poor attempt to pull one over on them. 

Being clever means treating your audience as though they are dumb, as though they haven’t been paying attention and no one likes being treated like they are stupid. If they followed you this far they were definitely invested, hanging off of every moment, and you ruined it. 

It often also means violating the social contract that writers and authors create. 

One of my TV shows made a controversial decision that I think will go poorly for them because the writer wanted to set new audience expectations after nearly a decade. Trust me, an audience of 8 years does NOT want their expectations changed. 

A more personal example is I am the author of liminal spaces on AO3, the Tim Drake found family dimension travel series. The last chapter of the series I had the opportunity to do something edgy. I had perfectly it up so it would make logical sense for that to be the end result, it would have been as hard hitting as a punch in the stomach and while no one would see it coming it would have been something that was justifiable within the continuity of the universe. 

But I had made a social contract on themes. I had written about growth and if I wrote my edgy little ending all the growth I had spent years writing about would vanish like grass trimmed by a lawn mower. Everything that had brought my audience to me would be undone in a single chapter. Sure, I would prove how absolutely brilliant and creative I could be and how much of a master of emotions I was. People would shut their computers sobbing and I would bask in knowing I created that. Then people would get angry. Because I lied. 

I wrote a dozen stories with promises at the beginning and the end of each one and at the last possible moment I broke them all. I spent 4 years making decisions and guiding my audience along my path only to betray them to pad my own ego. I veered away from my themes, changed the tone, and manufactured an ending that I thought was clever instead of creating a satisfying end to a series. 

Audiences aren’t stupid. After the tears had dried they would have called me out on all these things. Instead of hitting story recs I would have been listed as a don’t bother to read. My other stories would be ignored because I had proven I couldn’t be trusted. 

Because I didn’t treat my audience as my friend but instead treated them as an adversary, or worse, an idiot. 

You have to respect your audience. You have to understand why they are there and what they want, especially in a commercial environment. That isn’t saying to pander to their every whim. If they want something that badly they can write their own story and your own creativity is what keeps the story interesting. But there are promises in writing that you need to keep, lines you can’t cross, ways you can’t treat people. Sure, the initial kick off it is your story but the longer it runs the more of an our story it becomes. 

The moment you try and wrest it away again, to explain to your audience in little words why their decision is better than what they want to see, you’ve betrayed your friend and they will do the easiest thing to do.

They will leave.

Respect. Your. Audience.

[dyke-quixote]

ugh bloodfiend purring is so cute... and i mean real cats will purr on people if theyre stressed out as a healing thing so the whole parent purr doesn't seem out of place?

if sinner don unconsciously does it before the memory unlock i could imagine the other sinners thinking it's some weird body mod that like furries might get. because you cant tell me in a world with all these body mods furries wouldnt take advantage of it. like they might quietly judge her for it but its just a weird biology quirk which isnt telling enough that rocinante needs to supress it. and of course she has no clue.

i think a lot about don not realising her body and unconscious habits are sort of weird. i think thatd be fun to explore in fics.

The City has SO many weird body mods. Tanya is a full on wolf anthro from distortion but Sayo is unfazed like "weird body mod but okay"

So I definitely think between Don's eyes being canonically weird even with Rocinante and everything the Sinners would just pass it off as some quirk!!!

I absolutely love thinking about Don having a lot of subconscious actions and things that don't occur to her as anything out of the ordinary. Besides nightmares, her shoes, her eyes, and purring, I also think she has a really innate sense of blood in general. Being able to tell someone's pulse from their head for example. She just knows the blood is or isn't flowing. This isn't weird to her and she's autistic so she's like Everyone Does This.

I made a joke when the reveal first happened that she accidentally Outs one of the Sinners as trans (no one cares but it's embarrassing!) because she can tell when people are about to start their periods. Didn't even occur to her that's it's Not Normal! She just prepares little gift baskets or something for it or updates the shopping list randomly to add pads for someone else. It's actually really cute but also the sinners are like How???

[marrymepickering]

On My Way to Fight Gary Bettman

Yes, that is the title of this as it is saved on my computer. I originally wrote this at the end of the NHL season in 2023, so I did go back and revise some things, as well as add in a whole paragraph. I never originally shared this because I felt as though nobody would care but now I would like to put it out there for everyone. References are included at the end if anyone wants to read the articles that I pulled my information from.

We’ve been warned about the dangers that come with playing sports ever since we were children. People have gotten injured and died from not having protections in place to keep them safe. As sports have evolved and gotten more popular, professionals are continuously working towards implementing safety precautions and standards to lower the risk of injury or death. Hockey is among the list of sports like this. But what happens when the commissioner of the NHL denies a connection between the sport and a very serious disease that can affect anyone from the ages of six to thirty-six, or maybe even older? Parents and players believe him instead of the facts, causing their risk to increase. Hockey is an inherently dangerous sport, but there are several things that can be done to lower the danger level.

The first thing one can look at to help lower the risk of injury is equipment. There are safety regulations that can be changed and standards that can be updated to help fix part of the problem. The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) and the Hockey Equipment Certification Council (HECC) work together on standards for helmets, as well as face and eye protection. But having standards on only those two categories isn’t enough. In 1998, during a Stanley Cup playoff game, Chris Pronger was hit in the chest by a puck while blocking a shot from Dmitri Mironov. After getting up and taking two strides, Pronger collapsed, his heart suffering from Commotio Cordis. Commotio Cordis is when an object hits your chest directly over your heart during a certain part of the heartbeat and causes sudden arrhythmia. Chris Pronger was the first athlete to survive this, but he’s one of very few. This risk can be reduced incredibly if equipment companies were forced to add protection over the heart in shoulder pads just like men’s lacrosse shoulder pads and lacrosse chest protectors for goalies.

There are other injuries that can occur in hockey too- just not as severe as sudden arrhythmia. Two good examples come from the 2022-23 NHL regular season. In October of that season, Jake Guentzel of the Pittsburgh Penguins, now a player for the Tampa Bay Lightning, took a shot to the ear, causing him to immediately start bleeding. Guentzel was forced to miss four games in a row due to the injury. Players are not required to have ear protection on their helmets, but companies going ahead and making them permanent anyways would help lower the chance of the same thing happening to another player. In December, Ryan O’Reilly of the Nashville Predators , then a player for the Buffalo Sabres, suffered from a broken foot after blocking a shot. There is currently minimal protection on the side of hockey skates, where your metatarsal, the most fragile bone in your foot, is located. By adding some sort of extra padding or more of a hard shell on the skates, the risk of a broken foot can be brought down as well.

Another injury that can occur may possibly be the most dangerous. Several parts of your skin may be exposed during play- from the wrists to the neck. A cut from a skate blade on the wrist may easily be stopped by an athletic trainer and the help of a tourniquet. However, a sliced neck is not as easy to treat and could ultimately lead to a player's death. This was the case for Adam Johnson on October 28, 2023. The former Pittsburgh Penguin suffered a skate blade cut during the second period of a game in the UK. A referee helped skate him towards the bench while the athletic trainers came out to attend to him. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injury and passed away. Clint Malarchuk also suffered a slice from a skate blade in 1989, that cut through his jugular vein. He barely escaped death. He was interviewed in the wake of Johnson’s death and said that his experience left him with PTSD, which could easily happen to anyone who goes through that. Almost a year after Adam Johnson passed away, the AHL mandated that all persons on the ice must wear cut-resistant neck protection. At the moment, the NHL cannot mandate players to wear neck protection due to the collective bargaining agreement with the NHLPA. However, if they can regulate players to wear helmets during warmups, then why can they not come to another agreement to mandate cut-resistant neck protection when the current CBA expires in 2026? Not only would it be a measure to ensure players physical safety, but their mental safety as well.

The fourth and arguably the second most serious injury that can occur in hockey is a concussion. They occur from a fall or a hit to the head that causes the head to rapidly move back and forth. There are new stories all over the internet about players suffering from them. In 2021, during the Stanley Cup playoffs, John Tavares of the Toronto Maple Leafs got a knee to the face and suffered from a concussion. In 2011, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins suffered from two concussions, as well as a soft tissue injury that caused swelling in his top two vertebrae. He suffered from a third one in 2016 as well. Equipment could be changed by adding more padding and protection on the inside of helmets similar to the way football helmets are padded. The NHL also does not force all players to wear helmets during warmups- only those who have been in the league post-2019. By changing this rule to include all players, the risk of a concussion during warmups can also be reduced. Rule 48.1 states that “a hit resulting in contact with an opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable is not permitted.” I propose that this rule should be changed to include all contact with the head, even if it wasn’t avoidable just like in women’s lacrosse. That means the referees will have to stop making judgment calls on intent to injure and avoidability, and instead just call a penalty no matter what. Doing so will discourage just behavior and limit the risk of a concussion substantially.

Gary Bettman is the commissioner of the NHL, which means he is in charge of protecting the integrity of the game and preserving the public’s confidence in the league. However, he refuses to acknowledge the correlation between a deadly disease called CTE and the sport of hockey. CTE stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, and it is a neurodegenerative disease associated with repeated traumatic brain injuries. It can cause you to have memory problems, confusion, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Several professional hockey players have passed away from CTE, including, but not limited to Stan Mikita, Bob Probert, Jeff Parker, and Wade Belak. According to a study conducted by Boston University in March of 2022, a person’s chance of developing CTE increases by 23 percent each additional year that they play. This means that starting from the age of five, players are already at risk of developing and dying from the disease later in life. Another study conducted just four months later by leading experts in the field came to the same conclusion: there is a link between hockey and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. You may think there is nothing we can do as the public to force him to acknowledge the link, but there is. Emails, phone calls, peaceful protests- all viable options. Until Gary Bettman accepts the evidence, players and their families are going to believe him and more people will continue to die from CTE.

One final rule that could be changed for the betterment of the sport is Rule 8.1. This rule states that “when a player is injured so that he cannot continue play or go to his bench, the play shall not be stopped until the injured player’s team has secured control of the puck. If the player’s team is in control of the puck at the time of injury, play shall be stopped immediately unless his team is in a scoring position.” I believe that this rule should be changed to immediately stop play if a player is injured and unable to continue to play or go to his bench, regardless of whether his team has the puck or not, let alone in a scoring position. This change will help prevent further injury for the player, as well as the others on the ice, and allow the medical team to assess them immediately.

In conclusion, even though hockey is a dangerous sport, there are changes that could be made to help lower the danger level. These include equipment specification and standards being changed, rules being changed, and Gary Bettman finally admitting that there is a correlation between hockey and CTE. There are still more safety precautions that could be put in place and if they aren’t soon, then players are only going to continue to get not only seriously injured, but suffer even more mental health problems than they already do. 

References

[spaceyjester]

Oneshot and its Music Comparisons to Real Life Situations 🎶

This post include spoilers from the Solstice run, scroll past this if you haven't finished the game.

Oneshot has an amazing and touching list of soundtracks. Getting technical, the game in general is amazing and touching, but this post is about the soundtrack. All the songs are great and fit them in their respective well, but I'm going to list only 2 songs I could describe really well with the post title, and one of the songs stood out to me the most outside the Solstice run, is the tower in the refuge city.

1. The Tower

I think the tower's soundtrack was the one that felt close personally for me. It starts with a small arpeggio, when then is just the entire gimmick of the song. Coming from the person that once listened to a song for 10 hours straight, this could be extended forever and I would still listen to it due to how touching it sounds.

That being said, this song struck close to me because I think like many others would also agree, nostalgia is a pretty good factor into feeling emotions and this song is no exception. It makes you feel like that you cannot go back into the past and explore your past, which funnily enough you could just leave the area where you enter the tower in-game, unless you already closed the game inside the X room.

Another song I think that's also really good but may not consider a "song" is the World Machine.

2. The World Machine (Solstice)

This song is, with no exceptions, a song that fits really well in their representative area. The song starts with a pad sound with beeping sounds onto the left side of your ears, though I just think the song is a little similar to Super Monkey Ball 2's World 4 theme except it's without the drums nor a beat. Sure, that's a pretty wild comparison to compare an upbeat song to a soothing ambience song, but I'd argue that since video game music/chiptune composers (like me for example sometimes :D) are creating tracks for their game, they tend to notice more things than an average listener would when listening to tracks for inspirations.

Getting back on track, the song itself is quite similar to working on computer programs, or if you want to be really nerdy, using a Linux terminal. As someone with a enduing love for tech and currently taking a computer science class in College right now, the technological sounds throughout the song really makes you feel like you're inside a computer and the in-game area enhances that too it too.

My Conclusion

I think I might've had gone off-rails with my second pick, but these are what I imagine you would feel like when listening to songs. Though, I think there are more songs I believe that can evoke a feeling or imagining something in the list but these are the two picks I think are well-worth sharing to here.

[artylo]

On Lecturing, Mansplaining, and The Way We Seek Information

What I find profoundly tiring about the senseless perversion of the conversational maxims nowadays is the seemingly insatiable urge for people to lecture others. Doubly so on the internet. I think this is somewhat of a new endeavour in everyone's repertoire, a honest to god brand new learned behaviour in the communal melting pot.

Of course, lecturing someone implies that there is some sense of superiority and of ego. One believes that the other could benefit with having something explained to them, so they do so with a sense of complete entitlement and with no consideration of one's receptiveness towards such an act. I see slighter examples of this online, like under interviews with rather oratorically gifted people like Orson Welles. Just here and there, someone will have isolated some pleasant and articulate phrase as one of the many comments. This in and of itself is not a bad thing - sententiae are after all fit for purpose. What is not to share? These individuals, however, cannot help themselves by just highlighting what they find pleasant to the ear, but the feel obligated to comment further on how "this is some advice a lot of young people can benefit from" or "this is a valuable lesson for everybody to learn right there". How observant. That these are words that the elusive "I" has deemed valuable - words that souls of perceived lesser taste ought to immediately apply. Of course, this seems innocent enough, but to me it speaks to a much larger shift in the way we perceive others and appreciate information.

Surely, if we are listening to or reading the same material, and we then come across the same sententia, which is evidently universally applicable to all facets of the human condition, something that everyone should and ought know, then why surmise that everyone else has somehow missed it. Why belittle the intelligence of your fellow man by acting as if your own intellectual facets are somehow better attuned to what is considered tasteful or profound. If the sententia is truly what you say it is, then shouldn't it be evident to the recipient without further elaboration on why this particular fragment is of vital importance for our species.

There is a whole industry of people who have essentially created a career putting together listicles of advice or quotes from famous people. Just the other day I came across a video, which was roughly about ten or so minutes, which essentially revolved around listing three sentences that were supposedly uttered by Ernest Hemingway, as advice to aspiring writers. This was of course padded for length and supported by several metric tons of visuals and calls to action, which as you might imagine could be a wholly different and lengthy topic of discussion. Yet, surely if I were to seek wisdom from the greats, then I would seek it out myself. That I would find meaning in their work or conversations they had had with their peers, rather than some montage bereft of all context.

The film critique industry has essentially morphed from mostly critique, analysis, and conspicuous marketing, into a factory for ready-made opinion pieces, which viewers eat up wholesale and regurgitate instead of indulging whatever thoughts they might have on the particular film. Dozens upon dozens of "Ending Explained" videos and articles, where people are given objective answers to subjective questions. Works to which many flock to immediately upon the credits rolling, just so there isn't any shred of ambiguity left. Not immediately knowing or being confused causes people to feel excluded from the group - excluded from people that can somehow explain - people who are perhaps confident enough to state their opinion at all, regardless of the consequences, in a way that to the rest of society looks like expertise and some higher sense of wisdom.

We're essentially begging each other to remove all doubt. To blindly trust in the loudest voices of our generation. Not doing so might open one up to being wrong or to being misinformed. In the court of public opinion, those are seen as grievous acts. How dare you not be aware that this is the case! Aren't you a fool!

This makes people afraid to share their thoughts and encourages a capriciously Orwellian exercise in doublethink. The environment which allowed for there to be the public's opinion and the private opinion is slowly being eroded. Conversing on a topic might seem fruitless when there is a video on the topic, which can be shared instead. The material doesn't contain the point - it is the point.

There is not innate reward in being able to synthesise your own thoughts any more. It's much easier to be indifferent after all. It's much easier to plead media illiteracy than it is to open oneself to ridicule. Expressing positivity or negativity towards a work might alienate you from the diametrically opposed group after all. Taste is prescribed, not cultivated.

Recently, I've been coming across a lot of media that mentions mansplaining - the act of a man explaining something, typically to a woman, in a manner seen as patronizing. I feel that that too is a symptom, or at least a more common example of what I'm seeing. In a sense, we want to perceive others' passions and interests as fundamentally their own and as non-transferable. There is no way of opening someone's eyes to something your hold dear without shoving it down their throat or presenting it as the rule of thumb. It creates this inane sense that the people around you are somehow less intelligent and less receptive to things, which you consider to be, of finer taste. That in and of itself motivates people to lecture and to present themselves as holier than thou. To present the information in a way that is mimetically palatable. If a lot of people believe something, then it must be correct. And if it is correct then it must be what people believe.

This kind of reasoning is indeed very democratic, but is liable to a vocal minority controlling the narrative and essentially prescribing what the majority opinion of a work will be. Worryingly so, this isn't even entirely isolated to fiction. News and information has become too plentiful and too difficult to sift through, so we flock to simple, pre-chewed, and condensed information, where some supposedly learned figure has handily decided what is important and what isn't for us. Being informed is becoming an exercise of trust in others, rather than a search for an objective truth.

Needless to say, what I am advocating for is for you to exercise self-restraint when it comes to satisfying your lust for information or the need to elucidate it in others. Form views of your own, before comparing them to those representing the zeitgeist. Do not seek to eradicate the views of others, so that you might substitute them with your own. Seek understanding in what you perceive as wrong. Question everything, including yourself, the views of those closest to you, and the views of those you deem wisest and most eloquent. Post-modernism is an exercise in individuality, and as we slowly move into an era of post-irony I feel it is going to become ever so important, if not more. In a very meta-modernist way, you might even choose to ignore my assumptions, which would also be valid. Are we there yet? You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.

[ao3gobi17]

Would Quaritch's behavior towards Spider change if he (I mean Spider not Quaritch lmao) was (cis) female? I mean, for example, would Quaritch put more emphasis on Spider's contact with the female part of the squad instead of men, or what would the situation look like if Spider got his period or even the matter of clothing, what would he choose for her and what about the hair - would he cut it or just demat?

It's an interesting one to think about.. I do think there would be some changes. He would probably be a bit more conscious of her potential feelings of vulnerability... like I don't know that he would have slept in the same bed as her as quickly as he did with male!Spider... not that he had any bad intentions in either case (other than the whole holding your kid prisoner thing) but I feel like he'd be more aware of the gender difference and why it might be less appropriate, rather than 'boys bunking together' kinda vibes.

Otherwise I could see him treating her roughly the same. I do think he'd rely on the female squad members a little more - like when he did his list of toiletries for Spider he'd probably have added 'pads, tampons any other stuff you think I've missed' and then given it to Z-dog or Walker specifically. They might have done the shopping for male!Spider in the actual fic, but they probably just stuck to Q's list because he wasn't worried that he'd missed something. He might also ask them for advice, or ask Spider, or google when it came to periods.. but he did live with Paz who had a period, so it would mostly only be if Spider's periods were very different from Paz's that he would be uncertain. Otherwise he'd know the basic drill.

Clothes-wise - well he's picking male!Spider's clothes here, but I wouldn't say at present he's trying to style him particularly. I also don't think he necessarily /wants/ to style him - he might want to pull him away from certain styles, but he does know he can't put him in clothes for 7 years olds lol, so down the line I'm sure Spider would be doing his own clothes shopping with Q just overseeing from a distance. Right now, Spider has mostly casual and comfortable clothes which Q will have got for him. I can see him doing roughly the same for female Spider... he might struggle to guess bra size, so I can imagine him sending Walker or Z-dog to pick up bras for Spider once he knew the size, otherwise he'd have done the same thing of clocking general body shape, estimating clothes size and getting the comfy clothes purchased. If she came to the prison very dressy looking - then maybe he'd have got a couple dresses purchased too - but otherwise just kinda lounge wear type vibes. If she came to the prison wearing makeup he might have asked Walker and Z-dog to buy her some of that too, but he'd probably have waited till he had her to find out shades/brands because that would be too hard to guess.

And hair-wise, much the same, locs would go, curls come back, might not cut it as short as male!Spider's (his isn't even that short) but whatever best replicates 7-year-old Spider's hair!

<3

[kopawz]

idk how u code on neocites- just trying to follow a basic overview video makes me feel really confused. How did you learn how to do stuff??

well, i first get an idea.

then, like you- i am bad at videos, so i go read up on tutorials, and look at examples of how the code to do what i want is written,

next, i get confused. necessary step.

and then, i try applying what i'm reading to my site anyway, even if it's confusing, and even if i can't follow it 100% correctly.

and then i go read some more tutorials for the same thing. i repeat the process until it works... or looks how i want it to look

i try not to follow it exactly, because i want my code to be readable and editable to myself later. this is the most important part i think. you should start very small and do what's understandable to you.

it also doesn't have to be very big or impactful to anyone but yourself, either. it can be small, even, and i encourage that.

here, if you want, in this keep reading i'll show you some examples of stuff i can do with properties i learned:

this small green box, for example.

it's name, or div class identifier name is "update". it's job is to hold the massive list of updates to the site, so viewers can scroll through to see what i've done, and what has changed.

right now, i've shown you where "update" is in the HTML sheet, and we can see that it's been given in-line properties. think of "in-line properties" as adjectives, describing how tall, wide, or how rotated your element is.

(keep in mind that you can't literally see the html as you're editing it like i'm showing you here unless you get a dedicated application for editing and testing html and css. i don't have any apps for that, and usually just edit and refresh to see if it looks right hundreds of times.)

okay, now let's see what exactly i'm telling this "update" box to do inside the CSS,

the CSS style sheet is another way of telling what something on your site to do. you would use the CSS to organize what everything on your page does more neatly, if you don't want to brute-force style it through the HTML directly, like i do.

in the CSS sheet, anything given the name of "update" is basically given the property of "overflow:auto;" which tells it to scroll whenever what's inside of it gets too big for the box. i have given the box a minimum width, so that the words inside will very easily start scrolling.

it is also given the color of #baddad, or a nice minty green- it's about 200px (pixels) wide- it has a border that's 2px wide and is solid (fully closed border) that's black- and it has a box-shadow that is 11 px 11 long in the bottom and the right, with a rgba value given to it to make it colorful, too.

why did i put width on both the html in-line style properties, AND the css style sheet? i don't know honestly! you don't need to do this, i think. just one of them will probably work, really.

i forgot what margin-bottom does, but i think that just adds filler space between elements. or is that padding, which adds filler space -inside- elements? maybe you can figure that out. i still can't remember the difference.

is there an easier way i could explain this to you?... i dunno, maybe ask for something more specific other than "how do you learn stuff" such as "what ways could i do *thing i want to do* specifically"

[mysterythief]

THIS!!!

Character development happens within the lines, not between them. Take for example my latest Percy Jackson Fic I’m working on.

How it started/outline:

So Percy had done the hardest thing in the world for him. He’d planned ahead.

Step 1. Design the ring and ring case.

He had asked Leo and Piper for help on the designs.

They ended with a simple, elegant, and durable band of interlocking blue and silver. A warriors wedding band. It wouldn’t get in the way of a fight, but still symbolized Percy and Annabeth’s deep connection.

How it’s going:

So Percy had done the hardest thing in the world for him. He’d planned ahead.

Step 1. Design the ring and ring case.

He had asked Leo and Piper for help on the designs.

“Bro really?! Who else have you told? Cause if I’m the first one then Hazel owes me $20 bucks” Leo spurted out, doing a little jig around the main floor of Bunker 9 where they were camped out, fire shooting from his fingertips like little sparklers.

“Na man” Percy laughed. “Gover’s known for years. I told him a month ago that I was going to officially do it.”

Leo’s firework display stopped, though he still wore his classic elvish grin. “Now why do you have to go and do me like that Percy? I could be $20 richer.”

Piper interrupted by tackle hugging Percy. “I’m soo excited for you. Have you thought about what you want for the design?”

“A little” Percy sheepishly pulled out a paper, “But, I’m no artist, so I just wrote down some ideas. I thought you guys could help.”

Leo pulled out a sketch pad and set it on a work table towards the back of the room. “Uncle Leo is going to design you the best ring ever. Celestial bronze to withstand a beating, but still flexible so it automatically adjusts sizes and doesn’t cause any discomfort, oh and we could throw in a secret weapon compartment like poison gas or make it an Archimedes sphere, or…”

Piper elbowed Leo in the gut. “That’s quite enough of all that. Let’s at least hear what Percy wants first before you go all ballistic on the design.”

Percy was grinning from ear to ear. He was so happy to have his friends here and willing to help him planning this proposal. Even if that meant that Leo was going to shoot off a thousand different crazy ideas on how to weaponize a wedding ring. (Though Percy wasn’t totally against the idea.)

He realized that Piper was staring at him expectantly, so Percy handed her the list he had pulled out.

“I want to keep it pretty simple. Durable like Leo was saying. And I really like the adjustable idea. I was thinking two interlocking bands, one silver and one blue.” Percy shuffled his feet nervously.

Even in front of his friends he wasn’t sure he was doing the whole romance thing right. That was why he had asked Piper to come. Plus Piper had become one of Annabeth’s best friends. If anyone would know Annabeth as much as Percy did, it would be Piper.

“I think that’s lovely.” Piper smiled. “Silver for Athena and Blue for Poseidon. Intertwined together like you and Annabeth are tied together. She’ll love that.”

Hearing those words from Piper a well or worry melted from Percy’s chest. He had been soo nervous about his idea, and if he was presuming too much, or not putting enough thought into it. Sometimes dating the smartest girl in the world could be hard.

Leo had been furiously sketching while Percy and Piper talked. He stood back from the sketch pad, held out his arms, and exclaimed “Voila! Uncle Leo has done it again! Behold my latest masterpieces in couples jewelry.”

Percy and Piper lean to look at the sketch.

Leo really had designed a master piece. Annabeth’s ring was thin, but sturdy and elegant. The two strands of celestial bronze, one dyed silver the other blue, wove in and out together in waves, creating infinity symbols over and over again.

Its pair matched it in quality. The second ring was slightly thicker, with three layers forged into one. Celestial bronze of blue, silver, then blue again.

“Who’s the second ring for?” Percy asked

“You dummy. You’ll need a wedding band as well woln’t you?” Leo raised his eyebrow at his friend, then made a face at Piper that said ‘This guy really thinks he’s ready to get married?’ “I figured we’d keep it on theme. Interlocking bands for Annabeth, and silver sandwiched in blue for you to represent how Annabeth will always be your heart.”

“Leo!” Piper exclaimed

“What?!”

“That is actually very sweet!”

“Hey! I can do sweet things. The Valdezinator is all about sweet and lovey.”

Percy just laughed. “Clearly I haven’t thought that far ahead yet, but you’re the man Leo. These look great!” Percy gave him a fist bump.

*back to our regularly scheduled rant*

These say the exact same things in terms of the plot progressing. But the second one gives you sooo much more characterization. You feel the happiness of the friends in doing this together and the slight nervousness and inability to fully plan things through that is Percy Jackson.

Write the dialogue. Write the characters. Give them a home, friends, feelings, life. Write the filler where it brings your story to life.

crying and sobbing y'all when people said that you only add scenes that advance the plot they didn't JUST mean the overarching plot. they meant the plot of the book... entirely. like a conversation between two friends can advance the plot by characterizing them and grounding them with a meaningful relationship. if your book doesn't have "filler" it's missing emotional beats. which are plot. which are important. fun and whimsy aren't mutually exclusive from what "needs" to happen in your book. the advice isn't bad it's just taken too literally stop come back.

[lonita]

Bottled Up

2025 06 23: I wrote this for something, many moons ago. I just can't recall what. That said, you can find much less verbose - but same - ideas on <A HREF="http://idealog.fun/">idealog.fun</A>.

If you're like many of the rest of us, your cupboards and storage areas are full of empty jars. Whenever the original contents are gone, we clean the jars out and put them away thinking we'll find a use for them "one of these days". The jars pile up until there are more jars than uses we can think to put them to. Until now. Why not make them into gifts? Not empty, of course, unless you know someone else who wants a collection of empty glass bottles that once held pasta sauce, peanut butter, and mayonnaise. An empty jar is not a terribly interesting thing, so why not put something inside and treat a friend, loved one, co-worker, or other individual, to a nice surprise? But what to put inside, you ask, and how do I make this "gift in a jar"?

If you know someone who keeps a journal, or who likes to write other types of poetry and prose, then the answer of what to put inside is simple - fill the jar with slips of paper, each bearing one idea for something to write about. What you put on the paper could be questions, quotations, or anything else of your devising. Each day, or as often as they are inclined to, the person you gave this "journal jar" to would take one out and write something inspired by what's on the paper. The questions and quotations could be thematic. If you are giving it as a Christmas gift, for example, the questions could all be things relating to Christmas or other holidays - or they could simply be a random selection of questions covering any amount of topics you wish. What occasion you give the gift for, and what you put on those slips of paper, is completely up to you, but I shall list some ideas for you later on. First, though, let me go through some of the tools you'll need, and some ideas on preparation.

The first thing you'll need, of course, is a jar (or other suitable container). You can either purchase one new from a store (dollar stores are excellent places to find such things) or recycle one from your home. Any type of jar will work, but you might want to use one that has designs on the glass or is made from something other than plain, clear glass. Make sure the jar is thoroughly cleaned before you get started -including the lid - and that there is no evidence left of the paper label or glue that was used to apply it. An easy way to help remove the label and glue is to soak the jar in warm water for a while, then scrape the dissolving paper and loosening glue off. You can use a Brillo pad, or something else with a bit of abrasiveness, to help you with this.

You will need paper. Coloured paper is an excellent choice that can help to provide some pizzazz, or you can use white paper - it's up to you. Another idea might be to use paper that has a pattern already on it. Access to a printer (if it's a colour printer, so much the better) will make the job of decorating much easier, as you can keep the text and other decorations more uniform - and it certainly saves you from the potential of writer's cramp!

The idea here is to decorate one side of the paper and put your writing prompts on the other. You would then fold the papers in half so that the written side can't be seen until the paper is taken out of the jar, and all the person you gave the jar to can see beforehand is the decorations. If you were, for example, making a jar that contained sets of questions about family life, school, the holidays, etc., you could decorate all the holiday prompts with the same decoration and choose a different decoration for other themes. You could decorate each piece of paper differently, also. The other option is to use paper that has a peel-off sticky back, so that when the person you give the jar to takes the slip of paper out, they can affix it to the top of a page in their journal. In this case you might decorate one half of the surface the prompt is written on, and write the question on the other half.

Using a printer would allow you to make the sizes of the slips uniform. You could measure out the size of the slips on the computer using the appropriate software, then print them out in large sheets that you could cut apart yourself. Although it's not necessary, you could use pinking shears, or other scissors that have a special edge, to cut apart the slips of paper so that your prompts have a decorated edge. If you are using the "decorations on one side, writing on the other side" method, simply print out one side first, flip the paper over feeding it back into your printer, and print out the other side. Make sure the dimensions you set for the size of your slips has remained the same for both sides, or you might end up cutting something off.

You will also want to disguise the lid and perhaps decorate the outside of the jar. To do this you could use peel-off sticky paper, cloth, paint, or any combination of those and other craft items. If using paint to colour over the original lid and on the glass, you will need special paints for the process. Your best option would be to consult someone at an art supply or craft store, and ask them what is best to use to paint on metal and glass. The same applies if you're going to glue things onto the lid or the sides of the jar.

For the lid you could simply cover it with a piece of cloth, perhaps one that matches the colours of paper you used, or matches the designs you put on your prompts. You could affix it with glue, ribbon, yarn, or an appropriate elastic - like those sparkly ones you use for your hair. You could paint any sort of design on it you wished, or glue sparkles and other craft items on it. If it's a thematic journal jar you could put a design on the lid that matches the ones used on the papers inside. As for the outside of the jar, you can do whatever you wish, but it's a good idea to stay away from anything too complex, as it would obscure the contents of the jar too much. If you wanted you could do similar things to the side of the jar that you did with the lid - a little painting, perhaps something glued to the sides. One thing you might wish to do is affix a label to the side of the jar (or the lid, if you'd rather) that gives a title to the project. If it's a journal jar that's going to your friend Joe, you could decorate a sticky label and add the words "Joe's Journal Jar" to it.

The hardest part of the project is coming up with what to put on those bits of paper. As I mentioned above, it could be quotations (from books, poems, films, songs), a set of questions, or anything else you feel might help prompt the creative spark. If you're at a loss for what sorts of questions to use, I used to keep a collection of writing prompts that I'd culled from various sources, but you can search some out your own -the Internet is full of ideas .

Journalling need not be the purpose of the jar, of course. You could do any of the following instead:

Recipe jar: include the ingredients for the person's favourite dish, as well as the recipe for it - perhaps a version they've never tried before. This works well with cookies!

Date jar: a nice idea for newlyweds, you could fill the jar with ideas of things for them to do together as a couple, or things they could do for each other.

Craft jar: fill the jar with the necessary tools for a craft project, as well as the instructions to complete it.

Project jar: fill the jar with all sorts of project ideas that could be used on their own or also with a journal, like collage ideas, ideas for day trips the person can take, ideas for paintings or other art projects, etc.

Jar o' comfort: you could fill the jar with wise words and comforting quotations.

Journal jar: you might want to include a matching notebook and pen with your gift.

As you can see, the possibilities are endless, both for content ideas and how you could decorate for them. They are fun and interesting projects to create, and in the end, you might be making someone else very happy. Gifts made by the giver have a treasured specialness to them, and are very memorable and unique.

[cheswirls]

quick tangent for i think uh.. like problems i have w writing that i've noticed lately

idek how far back it goes but i make a lot of notes before actually writing for a piece from start to finish. i flesh things out in my head or think of a detail to elaborate on later and jot typically everything down that i can bc my memory sucks and ik i'll forget it later of i let it set too long, or if not forget then it'll be hazy and all the details won't be there.

the thing abt this is that 1) i write most notes all in a big blur and separate big thoughts by semicolons in lieu of any other punctuation, and i feel like most of the time i'm jotting everything down as i think of it (as it is in my head) so i don't have to waste time on coming up w correct wording or what makes sense, i'll figure out what makes sense later yknow? so it's all a giant stream loosely punctuated and if you read it out mostly it'd sound like someone speaking.

which leads to 2) a lot of extraneous detail accumulates and the bits and pieces that DO end up sounding eloquent i end up liking enough that i wanna shive a phrase or line into the story as is. which is !!! part of the bigger problem, exhibit a

when i come up with something for a story, i want to somehow insert it into the story no matter what. this means that i have trouble letting go of older ideas that no longer fit, but it also means (and this is the main problem i feel i have) that i feel the need to put a lot of extraneous elements into the story just because.

sometimes this is fine!! but sometimes, like this past week skimming old notes for a wip fic abt a yr old, i feel like this is not great and that i could be going abt it all in a better way.

let me give an example. i have a fic where a character is not quite human, is adopted by human parents for power gaining purposes later, is never told they're not human and ends up running away at a young age, but starts exhibiting non-human qualities later in life.

also, this fic is from the pov of another person in conflict with the one above. they meet after the first has already run away from home, so from a story perspective, there is no reason that the pov character should know any of the information i listed above. the story is about them trying to figure out what exactly the other character is, species-wise, and both of them are not on good terms so there's no opening to inquire directly with each other to puzzle it out.

what i've realized is that this plot point is interesting and can add to the story, but not as a direct quote, because it doesn't fit and would hinder the narrative to introduce. however! just because it can't fit doesn't mean i can't use it indirectly. idk where to go just yet, but today i thought about tossing aside a mention of the parents and such directly and instead using that information to build characteristics. i know it happens and that this person experiences it, so i can use that to puzzle out how it influences them, maybe showing how it contrasts them to the pov character, or possibly alluding to it as what's probably necessary information that the pov character simply doesn't have ('if i could just figure x out, if i just knew about y, then i could solve for z')

which is to say that uhhhhh basically! i'm slowly realizing that there are (probably better?) ways to use extraneous information besides directly. i usually don't worry about padding a story, but i have written plenty before where there's a word cap and for that purpose i feel like this will be helpful to keep in mind so the "padding" can be reduced but still serve its purpose.

it helps too that i never really delete my notes, so it's not like all the bits and pieces i think are ingenious are gone forever jus bc it doesn't make it into the story. i've thought abt actually taking screenshots or straight up copy/pasting some of my fic notes here, especially for completed fic i'm not liable to think abt again in terms of editing, as a sort of archive but also jus so i have somewhere i can point my fingers at and say 'oh look! i wrote smth cool come look at it!'

anyway this isn't uh anything tangent and i need to learn to kill my darlings i think first before i can implement this idea, or perhaps starting this way (with indirectly adding to a story) will enable me to do that better (discarding unnecessary things altogether). again bc i'm writing fic for fun i'm not rly stressed abt forming a perfect cohesive story that cuts out irrelevant details bc if i'm writing for me and i like those details then why not? but i do also think overall this will help me improve writing quality and i'm excited to test some things and go from there :) even if i like where i'm at now, i also think challenging my comfort when writing is never a bad thing bc i'll look at smth i write now a yr ago and go oh! i've definitely gotten better!

[mad-hunts]

with the way that viktor continued as if barton's scars were just like any other part of him, he was inclined to think that he was certainly worth hanging onto. that is... if barton wasn't already convinced of that before. viktor's touch continued to make him feel more alive than he'd been in a while, like the vestiges of humanity within him were rising to the surface — essentially screaming at him that the sorrow and disillusionment with his life was something he usually felt partially because he was missing connection. 'no one is meant to be alone' was a phrase that barton can recall hearing from an old therapist of his. and honestly, with how great it felt just to kiss viktor, he thought he could see what she meant more now.

the only sounds in the room right now were that of their kissing, as well as the shifting of their bodies and clothes. this is normally something that barton might've tried to change if he was with anyone else. but it was kind of relaxing with viktor to just be able to revel in the physicality that came with being intimate, the way that he tangled his legs with his making barton smile against his lips. he could feel the other groping for his cock and he made no moves to stop him. whatever touches he could get from viktor, he wanted. while the pads of the other's fingers were giving his lower half attention, barton panted against his lips, tangling a hand within thick and brunet locks. the change of positioning that viktor transitioned into and thus the doctor himself did came to him as naturally as possible.

barton didn't even fully notice that he was straddling him now until viktor spoke to him, after all. but that just said how immersed into this he was. the other's words hit his ears almost like a siren songs', for barton felt an overwhelming urge to give viktor all that he wanted from him and more. maybe the only difference was that being told he knew he liked to play made him have to take a brief timeout, because that was so attractive to him, it seemed like his brain stopped working for a moment. a chuckle left barton's mouth once more as he hid his face against the crook of viktor's neck.

❝ oof... well, who would i be to deny you any of that, hmm? i just need to know what you like. i have some cuffs i can use to tie your hands to the headboard, if you like bondage. i could spill some edible body paint on your body and lick it off of you. i'm open to almost anything, really, ❞ barton just listed a few examples of things he was into as he very lightly pressed the edges of his sharpened nails into the other's skin while stroking his stomach. he didn't exactly want to assume viktor was into pain, so it just left a barely present sting that went away a few seconds after. barton panted as he felt his lips trail down from his lips to kiss him on other area's of his skin.

the other's hand on his cock had barton moaning out viktor's name. now fully hard, his whole body started to feel like it was on fire as he rubbed the front of viktor's pubic area, before moving his legs to manuever his pants fully off of himself. then barton's fingers approached his entrance and he delved his index finger just barely inside of viktor, massaging it a few times to encourage him to become wetter. it was only a few seconds later that he dug his finger into him and moved it in a 'come hither' motion within his core. ❝ ahh, is this what you were begging for? ❞

Far, far from judging. Viktor finds scars attractive- a sign of a life hard-won, hard-lived. Earned, in a way. He won't ever question. He'll know what he needs to, never more. He meets the kiss, open-mouthed, fingertips straying to Barton's back, neck, hair. He's not shy past the initial few moments, mouth open, exhale one of relief and delight. When hands tug at his pants, he shifts and arches up to help make it easier, the feeing of fingertips against his skin electric. When they're trapped at his ankles, he kicks to free one leg, then uses his heel to get them off completely.

He's thin, a fading bruise on one hip from an accident not so long ago. His leg brace has also left a few marks, but nothing serious. Dark body hair trails from his navel to his crotch, though his chest is otherwise mostly bare, save for his underarms. He's never been able to grow facial hair. He's cool to the touch, always running cold, moving to tangle his legs with Barton's as if to sap his heat, as if to meld together, to encourage what's to come. Between kisses, near breathless, his other hand gropes for Barton's cock again, insistent and hungry. Yes, he wants this. Doesn't care what form it takes. Can tell he'll be satisfied no matter how these things go. Daydreams and fantasies all start somewhere. He'd be content to simply explore each other like this, get off this way, and anticipate more. He knows that won't be all that happens tonight. His long, pale neck tilts as he shifts, encouraging Barton to move with him, on top of him, to fully take him in. Long, thin legs part, just enough to afford the desired view. Every touch is electric.

"I want you to make me feel good," he says, voice quiet, near-hoarse. "I want you to take your pleasure. I want more than that. I know you like to play, too. I am not so fragile." He wants to learn, wants to explore, wants this to be good for the both of them. The fingertips against the hollow of his stomach are enough to drive him wild. He needs this, he realizes- needs the pleasure, needs to be filled, needs to be held and comforted and fucked beyond caring about anything else, just for a while.

He kisses Barton's jaw, earlobe, throat. He tugs at the waistband of his pants, cool fingertips slipping beneath fabric and seeking his cock before he's even pulled them fully down, his own grin widening. He doesn't want to wait too long. Damn this clothing. His fingers curl, squeezing.

"Please," he adds, for good measure, no need to feign desperation. He's in good hands- safe hands. It's not HIS fault he thinks he'd like those fingers inside of him just as much as what he's currently stroking with methodical pumps.

[buckyalpine]

Ok so I have a request, but bear with me because I can’t find the prompt list I had seen about it 😩

Basically it was about how in real life, things happen or go wrong during sex that make it more silly. There was a whole list of things that might happen, but I can only remember two of them. One was like someone being too ticklish and the other was body parts making weird noises. Hopefully you at least get the picture with those two examples 😂

I love the idea of sex being fun and silly sometimes and thought it would be really sweet with Bucky :)

18+ This is so cute. I love all of this so much. Awkward sex positions. Queefs. 

Bucky giggled.

Giggled.

You looked up at him with curious eyes, a devilish little smile flashed across your face as you went back for the same spot. Your lips nipped and teased his neck where he was most sensitive, making him squirm and wriggle under you.

"It tickles!!" He tucked his chin against his chest, his face flushed from smiling while you straddled him with an amused look on your face.

"I didn't know super soldiers were so ticklish" You grinned, poking his side, making him yelp. He grabbed you and flipped you over, trapping you under him.

"Mhm, and what about you baby" You squealed at the feeling of his beard rubbing in the crook of your neck, desperately trying to wiggle away from him while he held you down, laughing and nuzzling his face into your more. "Do I get to feel all of you now sweet girl" 

He pulled away, resting his forehead on yours, his hard length pressed against your tummy, precum making a mess on your skin. You moaned softly, nodding and spreading your legs for him.

"Ow" Your face scrunched slightly, as he spread your legs a little further, your body not as warmed up and flexible as since it was still earlier in the day. 

"Sorry sweets, you okay?" You hummed as he pulled your legs to wrap around his waist, pushing his cock into you slowly. "You feel perfect angel" He started off slow, feeling your body with his hands, smiling against your skin each time you clung onto him harder. 

"Faster baby" You moaned, pulling him down to kiss his sweet lips, your arms draped around his shoulders. He pounded you against the mattress, his cock slamming in and out of you, pulling almost all the way out before thrusting back in. 

"Come here baby" He pulled out of you, yanking you and bending you over the bed, stuffing his cock right back in you to fuck you from behind. 

How you hated the switch from missionary to doggy.

You adored how Bucky could hit your exact spot, except it usually also came with him literally fucking air into you in the process. You blinked, groaning at the way your body just refused to cooperate while with each thrust, the sound that kept escaping your pussy wasn’t something that could be hidden. 

Bucky giggled. 

With each thrust, he couldn’t help but snicker at the sound while admiring the soft flesh of your ass jiggle each time he pulled your hips back. 

"Did you just laugh?!" You couldn't help but laugh yourself, your boyfriend trying to hold in his little giggles while giving you gentle thrusts.

"Can't help it baby" He shrugged, massaging your thighs, his mind now wandering to something else he had wanted to try for a while. "Can-can I fuck you against the wall?"

You blinked back him while he bit his lip, hoping you'd say yes. He was still learning about things he enjoyed during sex and you were the safest most loving person he had ever been with. 

"Don't drop me Barnes" You nodded, standing up and padding over to a wall that wasn't near anything so you wouldn't knock anything over.

"I won't drop you" Bucky scoffed, you weighed nothing to him. It wasn't until you were in his arms did he realize it wasn't weight that was an issue and that there was an art to fucking one against the wall.

"How-how do i-" He grunted, lifting you with both arms, when realizing he wasn’t skilled enough just yet to put his dick in you without using his hand. He tried for a second, awkwardly rubbing his tip against your pussy while you held onto him for dear life, unable to understand how anyone enjoyed this position when it took so much effort. 

“Is it in yet?”

“I would know if it was in Bucky” 

“Damn right you would” Cocky bastard. 

“Will you stop priding yourself in your dick size for a second and just use your hand to stick it in” 

“Greedy now aren’t we” 

“Barnes, just use your hand to put it in and fuck me” 

Bucky snorted, managing to shift you so he held you up with his metal arm, lining his cock up with your entrance. He pushed into you, both of you gasping at the feeling as he filled you, both hands now gripping onto your ass and thighs. 

Once he got into the rhythm, he couldn't help but lose himself, loving the way you moaned and fluttered around him, the soft thumps against the wall only spurring him on more. Now you understood why people loved this position. 

"I'm gona-f-fuck I'm gonna cum" He moaned, his cock throbbing, fucking you faster, sweat beading at his forehead.

"Hold it, fuck keep going Bucky! Don’t stop-" You whined but it was too late, fuck you felt too good.

It was like a cum now button as soon as you told him don’t stop, keep going, his balls tightened against his body, cum bursting out of his cock, spilling his load into you. 

"I-HNggg-FucK I’m cumming” He moaned, stilling his movements, panting while still holding you up. "Sorry" He blushed, smiling shy at you while you snorted, shaking your head. 

"I told you to keep going!"

"Well, why do you feel so good" He rolled your eyes, carrying you over and dropping you onto the bed, throwing your thighs over his shoulders, pressing a sloppy kiss onto your soaked clit. 

"Now hold still while I make you cum pretty girl"

Tags:

@glxwingrxse  @hungryyeyess  @sebsgirl71479  @beabutterfly987  @teambarnes72  @witchywhore @jamesbuckybarneswify @slutforsexyseabass  @chrisdrysdale @littlemarvelmenfan  @buggy14  @whimsyplaty92  @sergntbarnes @inkedaztec   @pono-pura-vida   @moonlightreader649 @brooklynscherry-z  @elle14-blog1 @justsebstan @littlelightnings @psychomanniac-blog  @happyt0exist   @emmabarnes  @bethyruth @matchat3a  @cjand10   @getwellsoontana  @cherryschaos   @lokisasgardianvampirequeen  @ashenc-blog  @buckybarnessimpp   @potatothots  @goldylions  @high-functioning-lokipath @morganemorganite-blog  @kingfleury  @peaches1958  @spiderman-stilinski  @peaceinourtime82  @gublur   @wintersmelodie @geeky-politics-46   @lolawassad  @almosttoopizza   @a-poor-gryffindork @alternativeprincess   @buckycallsmeaslut  @kamaria-sweet-writes  @charmedbysarge    @xnorthstar3x  @kryoee7 @alina02  @gh0stgurl  @polishprincess999 @jessybarnes @alltheficsiwant @chemtrails-club