#I figured I should post the ones I have instead of when I finish them all and to post them in clumps as I do so

[rwrbficrecs]

Our September & October recs ❤️

make lemonade by @smc-27 (book-verse)

@dot524: This author consistently posts stellar works but I often finish wanting more of that world. This one is nice and long — yay! I loved this meet-cute where Alex’s daughter Claudia has a lemonade stand and Henry is one of their favorite customers. This was a bit of an exploration of divorced dad (single dad) Alex. His mixed feelings about coparenting and starting a new relationship were nicely developed. Such a great warm fuzzy fic, with a nice bit of angst and character development mixed in to make things interesting. And I loved the kid character, Claudia!

falling in love (in the cruelest way) by @coffeecatsme (book-verse)

@suseagull04: This road trip AU is so fun, partly because of how soft our favorite boys are, but also just because of Alex's bright personality throughout the whole thing, and the faith and hope that's a critical part of the book!

we should get married by @smc-27 (book-verse)

@suseagull04: I had heard people talking about this green card marriage AU for months, and the hype was definitely warranted (as with all of this author's writing)! Little details from the book used in a new way, instant attraction, both of them being exactly what the other needs, exploration of other relationship dynamics within the book... this fic has so much depth in its 4 chapters, and it's fantastic!

Cleansing Downpour by @sprigsofviolets (book-verse)

@na-dineee: It often seems like things between June and Nora were always easy, like they were just meant to be. But what if it wasn't that simple? Feeling stuck in life, June is caught between writing a book she’s starting to hate, and navigating her growing feelings for her best friend. A beautifully written story of change, friendship and love, and figuring out who you really are.

runaway now and forever more by tonystarked (book-verse)

@na-dineee: Aged Alex and Henry, a US Senator and an English Prince, have been pining for each other for what feels like forever. Could tonight, at a glamorous charity event, finally be the night they open up to one another? This beautifully heart-wrenching and incredibly poetic fic has been stuck in my head ever since I read it!

The Candy Tax by @hgejfmw-hgejhsf (book-verse)

@suseagull04: This fic is absolutely adorable! It's the perfect nostalgia trip for anyone who went trick or treating, and it incorporates some of the pop culture references from the book in the best ways that just add to what make this fic so cute!

Heart enough by @hgejfmw-hgejhsf (book-verse)

@suseagull04: What if Henry's the one who has to travel for the apology tour and instead of celebrating New Year's, they have a Halloween party? This fic adds so many layers and soft moments to the original, but still includes the heart and references we all love!

Halloween at Kensington by @hgejfmw-hgejhsf (book-verse)

@suseagull04: This is the Arthur POV of Halloween when his kids are little I didn't know I needed until I read it- this is so adorable, and Henry and Phillip's characterization in it is perfect!

I was cold as a stone (but I found what I'm lookin' for) by @miharaikko (book-verse)

@na-dineee: Author Henry has retreated to a small, secluded cabin in the mountains, hoping it will spark some writing inspiration. That's where he meets Alex, the owner of the cabin... The mountain and campfire vibes are absolutely wonderful. It's such a fluffy and heartfelt one-shot – just as recommendable as the other fics in the Flufftober: A Red Umbrella Collection.

Red, White and Royal Switcheroo by @xthelastknownsurvivorx (book-verse)

@suseagull04: This body swap AU left me wondering how everything would have been different in the rest of the story- it's that good! It has the heart and content of the original, plus moments that are brand new- and watching the boys pretend to be each other is fantastic!

Oblivion by @milowren29 (book-verse)

@dot524: This story has been on my reading list for a while and wow, did it live up to expectations! Alex and Henry are kidnapped during their visit to the hospital, and they trauma-bond during their experience. But what will happen afterward? How will this change things between them? The action, angst, and longing in here is spot-on and the storytelling is so well-done.

Sounds of Someday by dazedandconfused (book/movie-verse)

@na-dineee: USA 1972, three weeks on a road trip on the 'road to nowhere' heading toward Texas: writer Henry and farm boy Alex. This fic is so layered and full of hurt and emotions. The ending completely knocked the wind out of me. An absolute masterpiece, please everyone, read it – it's phenomenally good in terms of language, storytelling, and capturing the spirit of the time !!

blizzards and broken boundaries by @gayhoediaz (book-verse)

@na-dineee: Age gap – I love this trope with Henry and Alex. Here, it’s a 20+ year difference: Alex is a student, Henry his professor. Alex makes the move, Henry is very amenable. The alternating POV is so cleverly done, the tags say PWP, but I definitely felt all the feelings. Absolutely delicious!

These violent delights by @lizzie-bennetdarcy (book-verse)

@suseagull04: Henry as a vampire hunter in this fic is such an intriguing concept and the backstory of it and the fic's conflict is so well done!

With magic soakin' my spine, can you read my mind? by @hgejfmw-hgejhsf (book-verse)

@suseagull04: Pining and magic and revelations abound in this fic that's written so well, it gave me chills. This fic is definitely a must-read if you want a canon divergent fic that has just a hint of magic!

to belong to a family (even beyond this world) by @read-and-write- (book-verse)

@suseagull04: The Mexican part of Alex's heritage absolutely shines through in this- and this is definitely a fic you want to read if you want Día de los Muertos fic and all the Arthur feels! I also love all the neurodiversity in this fic!

A Beautiful Reality by @tinyarmedtrex (book-verse)

@na-dineee: Priest!Henry is back. The second part of The Only Heaven I'll Be Sent To Is When I'm Alone With You is out!! And – surprise: He’s not a priest anymore. But it’s not that easy to shake off those deeply rooted beliefs and Catholic guilt. Luckily, Alex is so patient and totally in love.

The Brightest Star by @aforgottennymph (book-verse)

@dot524: Single dad Alex meets children’s book author Henry, and they connect immediately. The obstacle in this story is Alex’s sense of duty to his daughter, Bia. She’s quick and creative, and she’s brimming with opinions. I’m a bit picky about OC’s and kids in fics, but this one was so well done. It’s full of fun dialogue and well-realized feelings and angst. Definitely check it out!

A Love That Haunts the Land by @14carrotghoul (book-verse)

@suseagull04: Once again, this author has blended Mexican culture and RWRB in a way that's so authentic- plus there's magic! This is one you won't want to miss!

check out our past Monthly Faves here ❤️

[dbphantom]

bl3 h2o au is 167 pages condensed [no notes/plans, just pure writing without breaks- the actual document is about 260 pages tho]

ffxv h2o au just hit 145 pages condensed

SOON.

[kittzuxp]

wait acrylic colors are awesome actually i might try painting something again once i buy new ones

[heck-theo]

Okokokokok- ignore how rough and messy some of these redraws/sketches are - but it's apparently also dinosaur month?? (WHY did no one ever tell me it's Jurassic June? I love dinosaurs) And like. What if Rise but dinosaurs?!

I don't often post such loose sketches but I wanted to show these off cause I really like some of this.

Design choices and dino species + the reasons I picked them bellow (looking for potential Donnie dino suggestions):

Clothes: Without the shell they really need clothes. They'd all have pretty much the same pants to keep some unity, except maybe Mikey (I decided they should all have the same pants after I finished the Mikey sketches, not sure if I'll keep the shorts or change to pants). Accessories are a mix of pre and post finale.

Raph - I think would keep it simple and practical but would also wear nice jackets and stuff when in casual situations. I need to work on giving him an alternative outfit and tweak his accessories a bit.

Donnie - An oversized pull-over hoodie cause we already know he loves that shit. We see him wearing it all the time. Easy enough. He wears a comfortable singlet underneath so the straps of his battle sail don't rub. Nice soft fabric, tight fit so it doesn't move around, tucks it into his pants, etc. When he wears the battle sail he won't overheat so he can wear hoodies basically all year round.

Leo - He's in one of those shirts with obnoxiously large arm holes and make it cropped cause 1. I think he would 2. I want it to be different from Raph and Donnie's singlets. He usually wears the shoulder strap off his shoulder but pulls it up when he needs to. He has some of the black bandages over his mid drift atm but I might just make his pants super high waisted in the final version. He'd probably wear a bomber jacket (also cropped?) over the top for cool weather, but doesn't like to hide his feathers.

Mikey - I think he'd mostly wear hand me downs when he's younger. He definitely goes through a stage of rebelling and wanting to pick his own and would find a middle ground of appreciating sharing some of his brother's clothes and modifying them, as long as he has the choice of his own available. Not sure if that would be before or after this design. At the moment he's got Raph's old shorts (from a loooong time ago), Leo's old shirt, and Donnie's old zip up hoodie. He does have his own accessories though, including pins instead of stickers.

Dinosaurs: I kept them all as non-avian dinosaurs, AKA not including animals that are colloquially considered dinos but aren't (like pterosaurs). I wanted to keep an even split of herbivore vs carnivore just so one wasn't the odd one out. I wanted to keep most of their body structure, colours and distinguishing features the same as canon. Obviously I added tails cause, yeah, of course haha. I did want them to be recognisable as different species of dino using distinct characteristics that their species is known for. I did ignore a lot of differences though, like size and bipedal vs quadruped (although the quadrupeds might be more likely to go to all fours, especially when fighting or afraid). Leo and Donnie are carnivores so have sharper teeth and claws.

Raph - Some kind of Ceratopsian (likely Triceratops or something very similar) and he was the first idea I had for this and I'm really happy with it. I think it just suits him. Trike Raph just came to me in an unprecedented moment of genius. His spikey frill replicates his spikey shell. His sturdiness, protectiveness and willingness to kick ass when needed, all scream trike to me.

Donnie - Spinosaurus but looking for other species recommendations. More details below: So I wanted to figure out a way for him to have tech with a similar function to his battle shell (in the sense that it's something that helped him in day to day life) and so I went with spino cause one possible theory about a function of spinosaurus' sail is temperature regulation. So his battle sail has heating/cooling systems as well as other tech. A spino's sail was probably not fragile but the battle sail would also help protect it from being targeted during fights or crushed during extreme impacts. It was also thought to be used for display, and what's more of a display than a battle sail? The only problem I have with this is that it's lacking part of what makes Donnie's battle shell so great, which is that it is essentially a prosthetic. Not quite the same as how prosthetics are used in people of course, just in the sense that it is replicating the functionality of a body part that he doesn't have (I can't think of a better word). Well he does have a shell but it doesn't function in the same way that his brothers shells do, which leaves him with less defense than they have, hence a big reason for the battle shell (I hope I explained this well, it was hard to try and word properly). I can't think of a good way to do this with dinos. I was thinking of a carno or something with tiny arms, then Donnie could have tech enhanced arms but I'm pretty much ignoring body structure in the others so it would be weird to have just Donnie be affected by a difference in limb structure/functionality. I was thinking prosthetic tail but every non avian dinosaur had a pretty substantial tail. Except therizinosaurus but even they hade pretty obvious tails. I'm open to suggestions for this one if anyone has ideas. It does have to be an extinct non-avian dinosaur (anything not in Avialae), preferably carnivore but if someone suggests a really good herbivore or omnivore then I can try and swap Mikey for a carnivore. I want there to be an even split. I also wanted to give him something different on his face, like his brothers, and that could only be a little spino crest and it crowds the top of his head but I can't put it anywhere else...

Leo - A type of Dromaeosaur. I was tossing up between this and a dilophosaur where his red stripes were part of the dilo's crest, cause I wasn't sure about giving him feathers. But dilo Leo was so plain compared to the rest and the crests were hard to get looking right so I went back to raptor Leo. I can definitely imagine him literally and metaphorically preening his feathers too. You can't really see it but he does also have that big raptor claw. Raptors were smart, tactical and worked in packs so I think that suits him. I wasn't specifically referencing how some artists draw Leo's stripes coming off his face (I was just trying to replicate his stripes somehow, even though it doesn't make a huge amount of sense) but I realised afterwards that it kinda looks like that and might have been subconsciously inspired by it.

Mikey - Is an Ankylosaur. I'm pretty happy with the species but I need to work out the design of his armour plating so that it looks interesting, cool and protective but isn't too chunky, too pointy or super lumpy looking. I went with an anky cause Mikey is often hiding in his shell and he can't do the same here but he could curl up in a defensive ball. Plus I could imagine him using his tail club in his razzmatazz fighting style. A little like his kusari-fundo or nunchacku/nunchucks (not sure on proper wording).

[vincentbriggs]

Do you need a sewing machine to start making shirts and vests? Is hand sewing an option worth considering, or should I invest in a machine, in your opinion?

That's really a matter of personal preference!

Do you need a machine? Absolutely not! Every garment ever made before the 1840's was sewn by hand, and a lot of them after that too. I've sewn many garments completely by hand, including the early 18th century tiddy-out-violinist shirt, these bright orange breeches, and this green waistcoat.

Is it nice to have a machine? I think so, but again, individual opinions vary!

One of the costumers I follow sews everything 100% by hand because she finds it meditative and isn't interested in using a machine at all. Some people hate hand sewing and prefer to do everything by machine, with maybe a bit of hand finishing if they absolutely can't avoid it.

I do about a 50/50 split overall, maybe skewing a bit more towards hand sewing. I like to do pants, shirts, and nightgowns mostly by machine with some hand finishing, but for jackets and waistcoats I usually do considerably more hand sewing than machine, because I like 18th century tailoring techniques and think they give a nicer looking result. I do most of my buttonholes by hand, or I do them by machine first and then cover them in hand stitching.

Most people who sew do at least some of it by machine, but again, I don't know which way you prefer to work, so I'd suggest trying out both to see how you feel abut them.

For hand sewing, I suspect a lot of people hate it because they're using shitty needles and/or shitty thread, and perhaps haven't found good resources for hand sewing techniques.

Here's a post of hand sewing advice that I found quite helpful a decade ago. Use good needles because the eyes of the cheap ones have jagged edges and will ruin your thread! Use nice thread because the wrong kind will be twisty and tangly and will fray more!

Thimbles are good and useful, and typically they go on the middle finger of your dominant hand, and you use them to push the needle. I prefer metal thimbles and dislike using leather ones, but some people prefer the leather ones, or rubber ones.

The metal ones come in sizes, and I don't know how to find out your size aside from trying them on in person, but I know I'm a size 11.

One very important thing is that if you're hand sewing a garment, look for hand sewing specific instructions on how to do the construction techniques you're going for. A lot of the time when someone nowadays is trying to figure out how to hand sew a thing they'll just try and copy the machine sewn version, and a lot of the time that's inefficient and more difficult and the result looks worse, because machines and hands work very differently!

This is something I'm going to briefly discuss in the outro to the very long shirt video I'm working on, because it's so very common, and I've done it too! On several of my earlier hand sewn shirts I didn't know to turn the edge in on the front slit and do a little narrow hem, so I instead sewed on a facing for the front slit and cut and turned it, just like I'd seen on machine sewn shirts. This made it about 3x more time consuming, and the result was much bulkier and looked worse.

I've got so many more things to say about sewing but it's almost bedtime and I don't want to make this post too long.

For machine sewing, again there's a lot of personal choice. Some people like newer machines, some people like vintage or antique ones. I'm one of the ones who prefers solid metal vintage machines. I grew up using an old cast iron Singer, and the newer domestic machines just feel so plasticy and insubstantial to me. I'm used to ones that just do straight stitch and can also go backwards, but some people are perfectly happy with ones that can't even backstitch.

I do think that for a beginner the vintage machines are a better deal, because if you're patient and look around for a while you can snag one for really cheap at a thrift store, yard sale, facebook marketplace, etc. Also they're mostly metal and therefore harder to break.

I recently got a Pfaff (from I think the 1960's?) at an estate sale for 25 bucks. The zig zag mechanism is stuck and needs fixing, but I cleaned & oiled it up and it works just fine for regular straight stitching.

There are SO MANY online resources for how to clean, oil, and fix vintage sewing machines, especially the more popular brands, and a lot of the time cleaning & oiling is all they need. Read the manual and get an oil bottle with a nice long pointy thing so you can reach all the parts, and get some compressed air to whoosh out the fuzz. If it's old and hasn't been used in years, turn the hand wheel and observe every single place where metal rubs against metal, and Make It Greasy There.

(If you don't have the manual, you can often find those online too. I even found the service manual for my new-old Pfaff! I have the original users manual, but this one's for the people doing repairs.)

Oh this post is getting much too long! If you don't know yet if you like machine sewing, try seeing if you can use one without owning it, perhaps at a sewing class or in a makerspace. I know some libraries can loan out machines. A sewing class would probably be a good idea actually, if there are any available where you live!

Much like how you'll have a bad time hand sewing if you've got shitty supplies and no proper instructions on good techniques, you'll have a bad time machine sewing if it's not oiled well and if the tension is uneven.

There are so so very many things to learn about sewing and I hope I'm not making it sound too overwhelming, because I promise it's not if you take it one step at a time!

Also, when someone who's been sewing for a long time says "You may think you can ignore (piece of sewing advice), but actually that's bad and you will regret it", they're usually right. Oh, how I regret not learning to use a thimble years earlier than I did...

Sorry this post is so long, I hope it's helpful!

Basically, there's no one best way to sew anything, and you should try different stuff and see what works best for you, because everyone has different preferences.

[akirathedramaqueen]

Some thoughts on the Western Energy trainwreck

Soo, I've come across that post, and... it made me thinking.

Stolas spent there the whole time, not knowing Blitzø *did*, in fact, send help. He assumed he was all alone, although still had some resemblance of hope, a fragile straw he hang on to piss off Striker, allowing to tear up only when one didn't look at him.

And... hell, I used to see many comments about how Blitzø let him down there... But did he?

Oh course, some think he did, and he surely thinks he did, too. But, although the whole sequence with him and Loona trying to get that S.H.O.T. was a fucking circus and looked like a joke compared to suffers Stolas had to endure and barely survive...

To be honest, these scenes being put together on surface do, in fact, make it think that the whole Stolas being on the verge of death ordeal is a joke to Blitzø and he would rather spend time running around with big needles and stuff.

If to get back to the phone convo between them at the beginning of the episode, Blitzø mentions that it took him 5 years to book that appointment, and it means a lot for him to not miss it. Missing out on that shot meant to put Loona in potential danger, his daughter, and, although we don't know what kind of shots they were talking about, we know for sure what does missing out on a vaccine schedule could mean in the real world - we tend to forget how dangerous polio, for instance, is, as most of us have access to the vaccine and don't get to experience it not even themselves, but in close vicinity as well. For us, vaccines might seem to be some kind of stupid routine, something we got comfortable with in a privileged world, something which surely could be skipped for a day, right? But in Blitzø's one they are luxury.

Despite all of that, I also want to put your attention to the fact that he wasn't going to ignore it. He is speeding up, and I think (although it's not expressed explicitly, but not everything should be, right?), that he already made up his mind that Stolas is a priority.

You are not thinking it's about shots, right? He wasn't that reckless in driving before *that* call.

And! He wasn't even the initiator of Millie and Moxxie going instead of him. *M&M's* were.

And Blitzø trusts them, because why not? They are his employees, they are skilled and capable, and they are his friends as well, they know that shit is important to him (although he isn't willing to admit it himself).

We see also, how Stolas was admitted to the hospital immediately, which already gives a hint on how different their stance in the world is. I wonder sometimes how it would've turned out if Stolas proposed to Blitzø to use the royal influence to get another appointment shortly after Blitzø saves him, but we know he didn't get much time to even think about that. He wasn't even able to finish the sentence before Striker took his phone off him.

To be honest, I don't think the outcome itself would have been much different. I don't think Blitzø would've done a better job at saving Stolas, but, maybe, only maybe, he would've felt better because he was, at least, there for him.

Because you know that shit is going to haunt him till the day he dies. Because it only reassured him that he isn't capable of sticking around for his people.

Because, you know... happened once already.

No wonder he left Stolas's message on "read". Knowing all things before and after, it's not a surprise that he, tending to take all of responsibility for all the wrongs on himself more than he should to, couldn't face the consequence of what he thinks he failed in. He, speaking figuratively, left Fizz on "read" for 15 years, and he kinda sorted it out only because he couldn't run anymore and had to face the trauma as circumstances didn't give him a chance to chicken out.

I wonder what he was trying to tell Stolas. But I don't think we will ever get to learn that.

Aw, crap, I am done here, I am going to go and cry for a little bit. Thanks for coming to my ted talk, see ya in like 5 minutes to experience some Full Moon trauma again, because I can't get over these two. XD

[luvsellie]

THE ATTRACTIVE THINGS NETEYAM DOES

always touching you. he is protective. there is absolutely no way to sugar coat this, and it is clearly demonstrated in atwow. your presence grounds him, and knowing you're there, right next to him, skin against his, instantly eases his conscious. he likes being the bigger spoon and splaying a hand across the expanse of your lower back when he's around you…he will completely blanch, though, if you're the one initiating something more intimate (back hugs, small touches or kisses on his shoulders, etc). however he LOVES to do it to you.

he is incredibly patient. as the oldest of four, patience is a necessity. he's mastered the ability to keep relatively calm when a situation calls for it. this includes when the two of you have an argument or disagreement about something. additionally, he is the type to give you space post argument. won't approach you unless he realizes he was 100% in the wrong or it's been more than a day of not talking to you. and if you're still a little bitter, he'll continue to stick around and patiently wait for you to realize how much you miss him.

luring you in by doing absolutely nothing. everything about him is just attractive. he could just be standing there and your eyes would still be drawn to him. he isn’t exactly aware, per say, about how alluring he can be, but he is definitely aware when your eyes are on him. once he's certain your attention is completely on him he'll show off or do things that make your cheeks heat and stomach do flips. he's a tease, there's no point in trying to deny it.

puts his entire trust in you and the relationship. now while he'll still get jealous at times (it's quite rare but definitely still happens), he trusts you completely. he thinks it'd be pointless not to, especially when you're already with him. you tell him all the time how happy you are with him, so why should he have any reason to worry, right?

constantly makes small quips and teases you. he loves to see you flustered and giggly, smiling so wide your cheeks ache. and one of the easiest ways to do that is to tease you about something…like he does to lo'ak, but less with the intention of annoyance. he especially likes to pester you about your height, always finishing off his taunting with something super flirtatious like, "but don't worry, my love, i like being taller than you. it makes me feel like i'm your sworn protector." he'll also comment on the size difference between your hands (!!!), always going on and on about how your palm was made to be pressed against his. "you're so small."

he's naturally competitive. this will undoubtedly lead to races on your ilu's/ikran's. neteyam likes the rush of adrenaline he receives when he's messing around with you—it makes him feel like a kid again. he can and will turn anything into a competition (only if the situation calls for it though!), and every time he intends to do this he's silently repeating the words take the bait, take the bait, take the bait in hopes of seeing your infamous eye roll followed by an "oh, you're on, sully."

gives you nicknames. as much as he likes the way your name rolls off his tongue, he loves the reaction you give him when he uses a nickname instead. at first he called you them to see you get flustered, but it soon became a sacred thing between the two of you. examples include (but aren't limited to!) my love, pretty girl, and babe.

his tail reveals EVERYTHING. no matter what he is feeling and/or trying to mask, his tail will give him away. every. time. for example, if he has noticed another na'vi get a little too 'friendly' with your smiling figure—this includes getting in your personal space or even touching you out of excitement—he won't outright say that he's jealous. oh no, this man will just let his gaze flicker between you both until you eventually return to him. and, of course, you notice his stiff stature, locked jaw, and swishing tail as you approach an obviously jealous neteyam.

© luvsellie 2023 | do not repost, republish, steal, or translate !!

[starkidmunson]

glitter & crimson

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

It’s both exciting and terrifying to be in Chicago when they arrive Thursday afternoon. This is, unfortunately, very often as close to hometown shows as the band gets to these days. They have the night off, before the show tomorrow, when the band will find out if Steve and his friends actually show up to the gig or not. Despite not having a show, the band doesn’t get the whole day off; Paige had booked a few radio interviews before the gig to drum up attention.

He should have seen it coming when the radio host brought up the TikTok exchange. “So, be honest, have you guys coordinated with Harrington and his friends to get him to your show tomorrow?” 

“Not really. Our manager sent info and Steve gave it a thumbs up, but that’s really been it? But we’ve been busy with shows almost every night, and he’s had a lot of travel games the last few days, so we’ll have to wait and see if he’s able to make it out.” Jeff takes over the answer with ease, probably having predicted the attention.

“Did you really not recognize him, Eddie?” The host goads and Eddie lets himself chuckle.

“It may sound kind of ridiculous, but the genuine answer is yeah. I haven’t seen him in, like, 6 years. And, believe it or not, we didn’t exactly run in the same crowds. We knew of one another, I think, but there were hundreds of kids in our school.” Eddie always defaults to the truth in interviews; it’s the simplest route and leaves less room for people to poke holes in the narrative if he’s just honest.

“Will you guys be going to the Blackhawks game on Saturday?”

“We’ll just have to wait and see, man,” Gareth laughs, and just as quickly as the segment started, it’s over with their own latest hit playing them out of the studio.

A Thursday night off in the city wasn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but the band collectively made a trip to the bar closest to their hotel for wings and a few drinks. One of the guys must have posted something on social media about being out because as Eddie’s walking into his hotel, he happens to check his TikTok to find a message waiting for him.

harrington94 should I take it personally that you guys went out in my town and didn’t ask for recs or anything? 

eddiecc I honestly figured you’d be too busy and didn’t want to bother you.

harrington94 never too busy to show a friend around town. But I do appreciate having a down day, so thanks. 

Eddie wasn’t entirely sure how to answer as he processed Steve’s message. Friends? Is that what they were? Could they even really consider one another that? He ultimately decided not to think too much of it, in favor of keeping the conversation going. Maybe the more they talked, the less awkward the next two nights would be.

eddiecc I totally get it if you want to skip the show in favor of another down day.

harrington94 no backing out on me now, Munson. I’ve finally got the cool card with the Party. We’ll be there, no doubt.

Eddie feels a little smile creep over his face and his ears feel a little warm, but before he can answer that, text bubbles pop up again. He waits to see what else Steve is going to say before he does something embarrassing.

harrington94 now feels like a safe time to confess that I haven’t really listened to much of your music, though, so don’t think I’m rude if I’m not headbanging along with the boys.

That was more like the interaction Eddie had expected from their TikTok exchange. He never expected Steve to know their music and was shocked he even knew their band name when his response had been posted on TikTok.

eddiecc I honestly cannot exactly say I’m surprised to hear this. You never exactly struck me as a headbanger, anyway.

harrington94 i feel like that’s some kind of thinly veiled insult that I’m missing, but you’re not wrong.

The text bubbles appear again, and Eddie waits for him to finish the thought rather than respond.

harrington94 why don’t you text me instead? It feels easier than paying attention to this app I don’t really know how to use.

Eddie was quick to copy the number Steve sent and shoot off a text, weirdly enjoying the exchange the two were having and not ready to call it a night just yet.

__________

A particularly ridiculous meme from Eddie had Steve snorting from his spot lounging across the sofa. The next thing he knew, a pillow was flying at his face. He was able to react quickly enough to block it with his arm, dropping the phone to his chest, before glaring at Robin. She was watching him from the recliner across the living room.

“What the fuck?” He asks, tossing the pillow back in her general direction, more gently than she’d tossed it his way.

“You’re grinning at your phone like you’re setting up a hot date. Please don’t tell me you’re talking to Heidi again.” Robin pleads dramatically, twisting her body in the chair to face him. 

“I’m not grinning at my phone, shut up.” He grumbles, ignoring how hot his neck feels as he blushes. Instead, he picks his phone back up to finish the thought he’d been typing before he’d been interrupted. “I’m just texting with Eddie, that’s all.”

Robin’s eyes widened immediately, and she sprung from the recliner toward the sofa. “Give me your phone!” She demands, grunting as she fell face first into the sofa, missing Steve by an inch. He manuveres away from her without looking up from his phone, making his way down the hall to his room. “Steve, come on!”

“It’s not a big deal! We’re just talking! It’s fine!” He insists, tucking the phone into his back pocket as he turns into his bedroom.

But maybe it was a big deal? Steve couldn’t tell; this was the part he was never really good at. He had a tendency to miss signs everyone else thought were obvious, and he didn’t want to risk making things weird with Eddie if Robin thought he was missing something that wasn’t actually there. The texts with Eddie had shifted from Steve confessing his knowledge of Corroded Coffin was strictly limited to whatever the Party played in the car when he drove them places, to Eddie confessing he knew next to nothing about hockey. It seemed to level the playing field between the two of them, and at least made Steve feel more at ease about the time they’d be spending together between the concert and the game. 

When Steve had asked how the tour was going so far, Eddie had shared a link to an instagram, where fans were finding something to meme from each night of the shows. To which Jeff and Gareth were making memes in response, picking on one another in a way that felt like with some of his teammates. The message that had prompted the most reaction from Steve was the last thing Eddie had sent before Robin threw the pillow; a meme of Eddie looking confused, which Jeff had edited “So he’s not Joe Jonas?” over his head.

In his room, Steve leans over to pick up his charger, but he feels his phone lift free from his pocket. “Hey!” He calls after Robin, who’s sprinting down the hallway, laughing like the menace she is.

“I just want to see what you’re talking about!” Robin says, unlocking his phone. He’s just about to catch up to her, as she slides on her socks into her bedroom, closing the door behind her, right in his face. 

“You’re being a child, Robs, c’mon. Give me my phone back.” He sighs, resting his forehead against the door. He jiggles the handle, but as he’d guessed, she’d locked it behind her.

“Do you like him?” She asks through the door, and he sighs again.

“I don’t know,” He answers, honestly and exhaustedly. “I don’t even know him, you know? We weren’t friends, it’s not like I could tell you anything about him other than Tommy used to buy weed from him and he would stand on tables and yell in the cafeteria.”

There’s a long silence before Robin opens the door, meeting Steve with a little smile. She shoves the phone back into his chest and pats his hand when he takes it from her. “I think this could be good for you. That this could be good for you.”

“I’m trying not to read too hard into it.” Steve mumbles, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair nervously. He glances back down at the screen, to see what while Robin had taken the phone, Eddie had sent another text.

Eddie: How were your games? Are you doing anything special for your day off?

It makes something twist in his chest, that Eddie even cares, and he doesn’t quite know why. It must show on his face, some part of how he’s feeling, because Robin just smiles and nods. Maybe she knows how he feels, part of their weird unspoken telepathy, because she walks further into her room and pats the edge of her bed as she goes.

“Are you going to let me paint your nails for the concert?” She asks. Everything inside of Steve appreciates how she always knows when to give him space to try and figure his shit out on his own.

“Obviously.” He laughs softly, following her into the bedroom to sit on her bed and watch her move around collecting things to paint his nails.

~~~

The following day, Steve spends more time than he would like to admit picking out an outfit to wear to the concert. He can hear the Party starting to get antsy in the living room, even though they’d still be plenty early if they left right now, so he decides to just roll with the white shirt and fitted khakis he’d dressed himself in several hours ago before he started overthinking his choices. He finished the outfit off with a black zip-up fleece and black and white Nikes. 

A final check of his hair had him walking out of his room and into the living room, where chaos erupted.

“It’s about time!” Dustin exclaims, practically bouncing up and down with excitement on the sofa.

“It took you that long to come out looking like that?” Mike asks, but Max just snorts and shoves his shoulder.

“Let’s just go.” Steve rolls his eyes, glancing over at Robin who jingles car keys she’s already holding, before leading the way out of the apartment.

In the car, he shoots Eddie a quick text to let him know they’re on the way. Eddie’s quick to reply, giving the message a thumbs-up reaction. Unbelievably, the Party somehow manages to get even louder than usual once they were inside, and it doesn’t take long for a security guard to find them. They’re led through the back tunnels of Wintrust Arena, and Steve gets a little nostalgic for playing hockey in college. He’s snapped out of it when a girl passes out their pass lanyards and gives each of the Party a voucher for free drinks and snacks. 

“This is too much, really,” Steve protests as she hands him the voucher, but Paige insists with a kind smile. 

“We get this kind of stuff from every venue and rarely get to use it to its full extent. The guys want to do this for you and your friends, just enjoy it.”

The Party loads up on treats at the nearest food station, while Steve and Robin grab beers with Paige. As she collects her drink, Paige hands Steve a palm-sized bag of earplugs. He frowns at them, which makes her laugh. 

“Eddie said this isn't really your usual kind of scene, and these shows can get loud,” she taps her own ears to show she has similar earplugs in. “Should also help prevent headaches or anything else that might keep you off the ice tomorrow.”

“Please, he’s too stubborn to stay off the ice. The amount of migraines he’s played through is outrageous,” Dustin bounds back into the conversation, earning a chuckle from Robin. Steve throws his arm around the younger boy’s shoulders, pulling him just a little too close and too tight. Dustin exaggerates choking noises, flailing around and making a scene, but Steve refuses to let up.

_____

There’s more anxiety than usual thrumming through Eddie as he and Jeff make their way through the arena, to where Paige had said she’d take Steve and his friends for snacks. As they walk up on the group, however, Steve quickly pulls a younger boy with a head full of curls into a headlock. He lets the scene continue for a moment before he nudges Jeff.

“At what point fo you think we should intervene?” He asks with a smile, making Jeff chuckle. Steve, however, freezes, then shoves Dustin away. He turns to give Eddie a sheepish smile, and Eddie can’t help but raise an eyebrow. 

Steve lets out a huff of a laugh, running his fingers through his hair, shrugging and tipping his head in the boy’s direction. “This is Dustin. He’s like my little brother. I’m allowed to pick on him when he’s being a shithead.” Dustin nudges his elbow into Steve’s gut, who’s quick to smack his arm in response. Before Eddie can stop himself, he’s twisting a curl around his finger and biting back a grin. He does, however, make a conscious effort to not chew on his hair. He knows he’d never hear the end of it, fawning over Steve Harrington after a whole 10 seconds.

Eddie offers a hand out to Dustin, hoping Jeff and Paige would let his little tells fly under the radar. Just this once, they seem to, as he greets the Party. “Hey man, I’m Eddie. Nice to meet you.”

“I know who you are, holy shit, man.” Dustin eventually fumbles through, shaking Eddie’s hand and grinning up at him. 

Steve rattles off the introductions for each kid, like a proud mom, and Eddie greets each of them politely, but his eyes keep falling back on Steve. He catches his little smiles and the way he nudges different members of the Party, squeezes their shoulders, ruffles their hair. It’s gentle and sweet and it sends a warm feeling through Eddie’s chest. His smile softens as he watches their interactions. All too soon, Freak leans into the area they’ve gathered in and whistles.

“Shit, guys, we gotta go.” Jeff sighs, and Eddie pats his shoulder before he turns back to the group with a grin. 

“Just hang with Paige and try not to get into too much trouble, we’ll get drinks after?” Eddie asks, looking at Steve, who smiles back and gives a little nod.

As Eddie runs to catch up with Jeff and Freak, he wonders exactly what he’s gotten himself into here.

____

It’s more fun than Steve expects, the concert. The excitement of watching the show from the suite quickly bores the Party, as they realize it’s the same as watching hockey games from a guest box. They eat their snacks and drink some through the openers, but during the break before Corroded Coffin, Lucas and Dustin drag Steve around to the side stage. Robin promises to stay with the others, and reminds Steve to wear the earplugs. 

He’s grateful Paige had slipped them to him as they get beside the stage and he realizes just how loud the crowd is when the lights go down. From where they’re standing sidestage, he can see Eddie, Jeff, Gareth and Freak in a little huddle. They bounce around with their arms around each others backs, before yelling something Steve can’t quite make out. They’re handed their instruments by the crew. As they’re taking the stage, Eddie walks up in their direction and pokes his tongue out at them, before ripping into a guitar riff to make his entrance. 

Despite himself, Steve finds his head bobbing along to the drum beat, and even sings along to the songs he recognizes. It’s hard to take his eyes off Eddie through the whole production. He’s a little ball of energy, bounding around from one end of the stage to the other, bantering with the other guys in the band and drawing the fans into his chaos during talking breaks. During a drum solo, Eddie climbs onto the front of the kit and holds his guitar up in the air over his head. Steve watches, mesmerized, as Eddie holds his gaze for a moment that feels like an eternity but is probably only a few seconds. Eddie winks at Steve, then, before he leaps back into yet another riff. It shouldn’t have had so much of an impact, but Steve finds it kind of takes his breath away.

It’s over before long, and Paige is quick to guide Steve and the boys back to the club box. He smiles as they walk behind Dustin and Lucas, gushing over how great the show was. Back in the box, Steve and Paige agree to meet across the street at Fatpour. He charms his way into using the upstairs as a private room with a signature to the manager and flashes a smile and wave to the few people downstairs who seem to have recognized him. 

The band makes a loud entrance as the Party works their way through appetizers, and Eddie is quick to find his way to Steve. “You seemed to have enjoyed yourself, was it more fun than you expected?” He asks around a grin.

“I never said I wasn’t going to have a good time,” Steve defended through a smile, making Eddie laugh and Steve thinks that might be the best sound he’d heard all night, despite having just seen the concert. Eddie glances around then, locking eyes with a bartender to get their attention.

“What’s your poison?” Eddie asks in the most cliche way, wiggling his eyebrows a little, but Steve shakes his head.

“Strictly on water tonight. Gotta get up early tomorrow.” He says, and Eddie softens and nods. Once their drinks are in front of them, he holds his glass up to Steve in a mock toast.

“To making it the fuck out of Hawkins?”

“Cheers to that.” Steve laughs, clanking their glasses together and taking a sip.

“Any reason you stayed in the Midwest?” Eddie asks, before he can stop himself. “Sorry, you don’t have to… you don’t owe me an explanation.”

“Nah, it’s… a few reasons. Couldn’t go too far without them, and most of ‘em followed me here, anyway. And then the chips fell and I ended up on the Blackhawks and there’s kind of no other team I’d rather play for.” Steve explains, leaning a little closer to Eddie with a smile. “Speaking of; are you ready for the game?”

Eddie can’t help but grin back at Steve and laugh a little. “You know, I honestly have no idea what I’m getting in to here. All I remember from watching games on TV is that it’s violent.”

“Not always.” Steve defends quickly, before showing a slight mercy. “It’s cold in there, because of the ice. You’ll want to wear layers.”

“Layers. Noted.” Eddie stores the information away for tomorrow, suddenly concerned he hadn’t even thought about an outfit for the game before the conversation.

As they talk, Robin appears with a basket of cheese curds but pulls it away as Eddie reaches to take one. 

“What’s your favorite movie?” She asks, and Steve laughs and shakes his head at her.

“Is this a quiz? I’m not good at tests, I flunked out of senior year.” Eddie whines before he stops to think about it. “Uh, well. The answer you’d probably expect from me is Almost Famous, but it’s actually a close second to Dead Poets Society.” 

She narrows her eyes at him but slides the basket in his direction. “I can’t tell if you picked either of those because you thought it was the answer I wanted, or because they’re actually your favorite, so I have to give you curds.”

“They’re actually my favorites!” Eddie laughs around a mouthful of cheese curds.

“Dead Poets is one of Robin’s favorites, too.” Steve offers, and Robin nods.

“Steve will tell you his favorite movie is Risky Business, because he thinks Tom Cruise is hot, but it’s actually Go Figure. You know, the Disney movie about the ice skater who joins her school’s hockey—” Robin is grinning until Steve clasps a hand over her mouth.

“Robin is incredibly annoying when she wants to be,” He grumbles, and Eddie can’t help but laugh at their antics.

“Well, now you’ve got my attention. If Go Figure isn’t your favorite movie, what is?” Eddie asks.

Steve thinks for a moment. “I think Back to the Future feels like a safe answer.” He shrugs, and Eddie glances at Robin to gauge her reaction. She seems to approve, as she gives Steve a soft smile, pats his back, then stands from their table.

“I’ll leave you two alone, I suppose.” She says, leaning close to both of them. “Behave, got it? No funny business before the game.”

Steve flushes and flounders a little, his mouth opening and closing a few times before he just huffs and takes a sip from his water. While Eddie feels his whole face get hot in a blush, he can’t help but laugh a little.

“Is there funny business we could have gotten up to?” He dares to ask, and it’s worth it just to watch the way Steve blushes and bites at his lip. 

“Maybe. But I guess you’ve got to wait until after tomorrow’s game to find out.”

________________________________________________________

Wow! Thank you all so much for the overwhelming support you’ve shown this little idea I had! I might just keep this going as a series, with updates on Mondays (Tuesdays at the latest). This is also double the word count of part 1, oops, lol.

I'm going to try to tag everyone in the replies because I hit the character limit! Tumblr wouldn't take them all, so sorry to everyone I missed, I still love you and appreciate the support!

[shy-taylorsversion]

The Courting Season

Pairing - Colin Bridgerton x Reader

Requested by anonymous

Word Count 1.4k

Warnings - none ◡̈

A/N - I’m absolutely horrible about writing consistently so this took forever to post but here it is!! in honor of part 1 of season 3 ◡̈ enjoy!!

Candlelight coated the room in a dreamy glow. Skirts swayed amongst the dancefloor as young women made their best attempts at gaining a suitor and securing a comfortable future.

Over a month into her debut season, her dance card remained blank and her days empty. She hadn’t one visitor, much less a definite suitor since the day she was presented to the queen. Eloise was frustrated by her disappointment, not understanding why it mattered so much. The lack of interest in the girls left them with the time to continue their daily endeavors. Mainly, reading and speaking of the unfair challenges thrust upon them in their society.

Y/n enjoyed their days together but with pressure from her mother to find a match soon and the prying eyes of the ton, she couldn’t suppress the feeling that she was doing something wrong. The lords seemed to flee from her, never more than a polite smile or nod during their daily promenade.

So for the umpteenth time, she found herself residing in the corner of the room, a glass of lemonade in hand. She would have opted for champagne but her mother insisted that it was not ladylike for an unmarried woman to drink. She rolled her eyes at the thought and sipped her drink, swallowing quickly when a figure approached her.

Colin Bridgerton was the one constant in her life as of this season. He seemed to be there at every turn, ready to relieve her of the dreadful outings and painful looks given at seeing her alone.

He was the one exception to her blank dance card. Though it was deemed improper for a man to dance with a woman more than twice before officially courting, Colin didn’t seem to care. They were probably causing a scandal but she couldn’t be bothered to mention it. She enjoyed their dances and conversations. When they were together, the stressors of the ton seemed to evaporate and for that she was grateful. Even if that's all it was.

“Hello, Miss Y/n,” Colin said, stopping in front of her. He extended one of the glasses he held. “It seems like you could use one of these.” She tilted her head, confused since she was already having a glass but he didn’t pull back. She sat her old glass down on a passing tray and took the offered. Not wanting to be impolite, she took a sip. Bubbles hit her tongue instead of the expected citrus causing her to gasp. He’d handed her champagne.

“Momma said I could not.” She tried to give it back discreetly so as to not cause scandal but he shook his head.

“No one can tell.” He shook his head and shuffled slightly closer to her, “With the way you were eyeing the glasses, you should enjoy some.”

She looked around the room, only to see no one paying them any mind. She relaxed a bit and took another sip, sighing with contentment. There was really only so much lemonade a lady could drink.

“Thank you, Mr. Bridgerton.” She grinned up at him. She could never look at him for too long or the blood rushed to her cheeks and she began fumbling over her words. Her eyes flitted away but back to him as he spoke.

“I believe I have asked you to drop the formalities.” He raised an eyebrow at her which caused her to look away again. She smiled at his teasing. “Now, finish up quickly because I believe you have been standing all alone for entirely too long. It is time for our dance.”

————

The next week was filled with much of the same. Outings and sporting events, promenades, and balls moved her through the days. Colin was there at her side for nearly all of them. He’d missed a few for business at Bridgerton House but for the most part, he was with her. Eloise was slightly vexed at her brother’s constant presence but y/n didn’t mind. His jokes were funny and just improper enough to not bore her, and she couldn’t help but secretly savor the way his hand would linger in hers as he helped her from her carriage.

She absentmindedly flipped through the book in her hand. After rereading the same passage for the fifth time, she decided that she simply wasn’t in the headspace to focus.

Her sisters were flittering through the house preparing for tonight's ball and her mother was rushing after them. It was endearing but distracting. She would also be lying if she didn’t admit to the pair of blue eyes that kept drifting through her mind. There wasn’t much she could do to stop it either.

No matter how much she pushed him from her thoughts, Colin was there. She sighed and blinked away the few tears that had formed, a mix of disappointment and sadness filled her. She couldn’t love Colin Bridgerton. He was Eloise’s brother and a Bridgerton for Christ’s sake.

The door creaked, revealing their maid who let her know of a visitor. Her mood was immediately raised at the idea. The maid had a small smile on her face which was abnormal. The older woman was typically brooding and huffy but she almost seemed giddy now.

She nodded to let the visitor in, trying to stifle the smile threatening to cover her face, and stood to her feet. She deflated a bit when Colin walked into the room.

“Should I be offended at your lack of enthusiasm towards my presence?” He grinned as he made his way towards her.

“No, No.” She shook her head, hoping to not have offended him. “I was just-”

“Expecting someone else?” He was teasing and it made her face go warm.

She rolled her eyes and sat back down on the sofa. He followed, knee against hers as he angled to face her. His eyes lingered on her for a moment before he seemed to remember himself.

“I have something for you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. There was a glint in his eyes and a slight tension in his shoulders, he didn’t seem stressed but nervous.”It was my grandmother’s, my mother’s mother.”

She took the box from him and flipped it open, revealing a gold band with a small diamond. She gasped and her brows knit together in confusion. It was beautiful but why was he giving her a ring? It was too familial to just be a friendly gift. On top of it being an heirloom, it was valuable. It reminded her of her mother’s engagement ring from her father.

Y/n’s thoughts slowed at the mention of the word engagement. Colin Bridgerton was giving her a ring, a diamond ring. She stared at the glittering jewel until her surroundings faded.

“Do you not like it?” He said, worry lacing his voice, “We can find another if you would prefer. It is quite old-fashioned but I had assumed with your love of history and-”

He was rambling, talking faster and faster with each word. She’d sussed him out correctly. He had been nervous.

“No, Colin. I love it, It's beautiful.” She breathed out. Memories of the season fell into places like pieces of a puzzle. His seeking her out at every event, dancing with her at every ball, and whispering with her in the corner of every room she found herself in. The way she’d feel his eyes even when she’d looked away, his hand in hers for longer than necessary, every small touch. It made sense but he’d never said anything. “Though, I must be honest. I am not sure why you are giving it to me.”

He let out a huff of a laugh. Her eyes found him and the expression of confusion written across his face must have mirrored her own.

“I do believe we have known each other long enough to not draw out our courting period.”

She looked at him incredulously.

“You are asking for my hand?” Gaping, she looked from him to the ring and back, “At this very moment?”

He chuckled again and nodded. “I thought that much was obvious.”

“Colin, Since when have we been courting?”

It was his turn to gape at her, opening and closing his mouth before speaking again. His face went white with realization.

“I never formally asked you, have I?”

A laugh made its way through her before she could stop herself, body shaking in amusement. He looked at her, soon joining in her laughter.

She wiped the tears from her eyes as she caught her breath, letting out a small giggle before fully being finished.

They were quiet for a moment as she looked at the ring still in her hand. His eyes were on her once again and she glanced up at him, beaming. They stayed there, not looking away from the other.

“Yes, Colin Bridgerton. Of course, I will marry you.”

[chaewillriot]

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

RENTING A BEACH HOUSE WITH THE GANG!

(SBG X FEM! READER)

PART 1 / ?

You and the group saved money to rent a Beach House before school finished. It wasn't that simple because everyone had to work together for it to succeed. It also meant that no one could purchase junk food or street food. But now that you've completed tenth grade, all of your hard work over the last few months is beginning to pay off. It's finally time for you to enjoy your vacation today.

All of the planning was done by you and Taylor. After receiving the check-in schedule, she called the resort to rent a Beach House for a full week. You both agreed that it would be ideal if the group went to the mall beforehand to pick up some board games, snacks, and swimsuits. Given that the check-in time was one in the afternoon, you estimated that it would take you at least three hours to do the shopping.

The next step was to get into a van that you and the others had rented. When the shopping was done, the van would show up in the mall parking lot. The trip would likely take an hour or two, but that shouldn't be too long because traffic isn't as bad while people are on vacation. Everything was settled. When Taylor posts the plan in the group chat, everyone responds with numerous "thumbs up" emojis.

You and everyone else were inside the mall by around seven o'clock. Taylor made the decision that the girls and boys should go shopping together. She insisted that her mind was made up, despite Aiden's constant cries that he wanted to go shopping with you. Logan gave Ben a back pat because he was genuinely embarrassed by his cousin, and Ashlyn was trying to shield you away from the blonde.

"[y/n], blink twice if you need help." Aiden tells you. You only blink once.

"Seriously?!"

You have all already squandered fifteen minutes in idle chatter. You figured this would happen.

"Look, this way is more efficient. We'll all see each other after three hours. Besides, we'll bond at the Beach House anyway." Taylor decides to loop an arm around yours to drag you away before Aiden makes another commotion, and Ashlyn follows behind closely.

"Come on, idiot." Tyler smacks Aiden right on the head, causing the boy to stumble.

"You're lucky I'm not in the mood to fight you right now." Aiden huffs before he gets pulled along by Ben. He's still sulky about being away from you, considering that you two grew up and did everything together.

Back with the girls, you decided to push the cart while Taylor and Ashlyn would walk around the snack aisle. The brunette would always turn to you to ask for your opinion before loading it into the cart.

"You think this is okay?" She shows you a bag of sour cream chips. When you nod your head, she beams.

Ashlyn, on the other hand, would pick big bags of gummies. She also packs you some of the gummy worms you like. You probably weren't supposed to see that, so you pretend you didn't. But the fact that she cares about you this much makes your heart melt.

"Alright! I guess we've packed enough snacks. I bet the boys have different choices as well." Taylor chimes in then ushers you and Ashlyn to follow her into another area of the shop, specifically swimsuits and swimming gear.

You find yourself eyeing bikini's. You weren't that fond of them, but hey, you kind of want to try it out. Plus, it'd be nice to enjoy the sun every once in a while. You decide to grab a pair before heading over to the dressing room. The bikini you chose has strings instead, so you had to tie it real quick around yourself.

Once the curtains are drawn out, Taylor immediately notices you and playfully whistles, causing you to blush. "Hey, looking good!" She couldn't help but huff out proudly. Ashlyn, hearing the commotion from the other aisle, comes over to check up on the two of you.

She stops pushing the cart once her eyes lays on your form. She has a small smile on her face, but you knew it was some form of approval from her.

"You look nice."

Somehow, that causes you to blush even more. The girls just chuckle at your sweet reaction before Taylor ushers you back into the dressing room before someone sees you. She didn't want anyone passing by to ogle over your body.

In the end, Taylor chose a one-piece swimsuit while Ashlyn's is a tank bikini top. All that's left to do is to pay for the items and head straight to the entrance of the store. You wonder if the boys are done by now.

*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*

[quibbs126]

…Okay, you may end up seeing these drawings yet again on a later date

I finished the page, which was small at 500x500 px, but I wanted to make the page bigger. I did that, and I drew one new thing, but now I don’t know what else to draw on there. So for now, I figured I might as well post the original full page right now

Yeah, sorry for the laziness

This is the other sketch I finished on there, for those curious

Anyways, so yeah, this new style practice I’m trying

The original page I tried these out on is this, which also isn’t full, but I thought trying it out with actual characters instead of just random poses and shapes would be better, so I switched over to Cookie Run characters

The method is still a work in progress when it comes to all the shapes and the red sketch layer

I suppose what I should do now is try drawing a bunch of different Cookies that have different body shapes, so that I have practice with that. As well as maybe attempt some full body ones

I suppose you can suggest some if you want, considering I don’t know who to draw other than like, Hollyberry or Avocado, since I should try drawing large but not buff characters here. But I should also probably draw more skinny, and also chubby

But on to what I actually drew

So I already talked about Peach Blossom and the top Dark Choco drawing prior, so no real need to elaborate

The Dark Choco and Dark Cacao one was me drawing them in their younger forms to see how they compare. Not for any sort of study thing, but just in a symbolic sort of way. Since they’re so similar looking

I think I had a lot more fun with Choco, especially his hair. I remember Cacao being mostly annoying for his weird cloak thing that I don’t understand

The hand pose was ass though. I knew the general idea of what I wanted, that being them with their hands over their swords, but I was struggling to figure out how to draw the hands. Not to mention I had to change the pose from the red sketch because the swords were further down than I put them. I still don’t think I did the pose exactly correct, but screw it, it’s good enough

I’m also noticing that Choco looks way lighter in skin tone compared to Cacao. Like yeah, I know he’s normally slightly lighter, but it’s far more noticeable here. I’m pretty sure it’s because I used Dark Choco’s ToA colors here (bc they work better with my black lineart), which are slightly lighter, as well as just that Dark Choco is wearing much lighter colors while Dark Cacao’s are relatively darker. So maybe it just makes them contrast more

I liked drawing them, but I also did basically do the same body type 3 in a row, so I should probably draw different characters

Anyways, let’s talk about that extra sketch

So for those who likely don’t remember, that there is an OC of mine called Prickly Pear Cookie

I made her entirely on a whim one day, and she doesn’t really have any character or story, just vibes, but I really like her design and wanted to draw it again

I probably should give her some sort of bra though. The shirtless chest looks cool but in my opinion sounds really uncomfortable without at least that

I did originally draw her with the green skin, but it looked weird so I shifted it to more of a yellow so it looks more human

Honestly I really like how she turned out

But yeah, I think that’s about it for now. Just wanted to show this

[suniix]

small bite | (botw) link x reader

synopsis | reader gets cute agression and bites link

word count | 624

note | two posts in one day is insane but sorry i’ve fallen into a rabbit hole ever since totk came out so have another blurb!! 😣 first time writing for link so idk how i feel about it 💔 (also yes i just did one for inumaki i like the idea leave me alone)

The campfire made crackling sounds as Link fed it more logs. The sun had set long ago, the moon rising to take its place and casting a white glow across the land. The two of you had been traveling for a long time without breaks, so when you suggested that the two of you should rest for the night, Link offered no complaints. You were tired, the horses were tired; a break would benefit everyone.

You sat on the ground, far enough away so you wouldn’t get burned but close enough to still feel the warmth of the fire. Link took a seat right next to you on the floor, holding up mushroom skewers with a grin.

“Seriously? We just ate not too long ago.” You laughed, accepting the skewer nonetheless.

The two of you ate in comfortable silence, enjoying the small dinner Link had made (though, to be honest, you know he’ll make more, his stomach is like a void that never gets full). Finishing your skewer, you close your eyes, basking in the ambiance of the night. Somewhere in the distance, there was a cricket chirping. The grass tickled your legs as a small breeze passed through, making you shiver. It’s moments like this that give you hope for a new life after Ganon is defeated. Soon, you’ll have peaceful nights like this every day.

A rustling sound brings you out of your thoughts. Turning to look at Link, you noticed him preparing another skewer. You hold back a laugh, knowing you were right. Link hears you nonetheless and raises an eyebrow, almost as if saying, ‘What?’. You wave him off, a small giggle managing to escape. “It’s nothing, you keep eating.”

Link rolls his eyes, but you don’t fail to see the small smile growing on his lips. It’s not often that you get to see it, but he has a really nice smile. You wish you had the Sheikah slate right now to capture it.

In this moment, you can’t help but admire how beautiful he is. The light from the fire gave his sun-kissed skin a golden glow. His eyelashes are long, something you’ve commented on several times while on your journey together, casting shadows against his cheeks. Actually, his cheeks are unusually round today.

You’re tempted to squish them.

Silently debating whether or not to squish, you figure he wouldn’t mind. He does it often to you; this is only fair. Link turns to look at you as you lean in, half expecting you to kiss him, but instead you cup his cheeks. He gives a confused hum as you gently squish them for a few moments.

Slowly, you begin to pull him close to you. Now, Link thinks, now is when you give him a kiss. To his surprise, you bit his cheek. He doesn’t pull away; he just silently sits there as you bite his cheek.

When you pull away, Link is sitting there, confused. Link raises his skewer to you, gesturing for you to take it. This causes you to burst out laughing. “No no! I’m not hungry haha, just wanted to bite your cheek!”

“.. you sure?” Link asks, half expecting you to bite his cheek again.

“Yes, Link, I’m sure.” You laugh. You grab his free arm and wrap it around your shoulder, snuggling into his side for warmth.

Link goes back to eating, pulling you closer with his arm, still wondering where your sudden urge to bite him came from. While he was distracted, you turned to his arm that’s wrapped around your shoulder and bit his forearm. He flinches, once again caught off guard.

“If you’re hungry, please tell me.. I promise I didn’t eat everything and can make you another skewer.”

thank you for reading till the end! :D

masterlist

[thedaregf]

𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 : dominic fike x fem!reader

𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒 : Dominic Fike is suspected to be single according to his fans. However… they don’t know about the mystery girl Dom is secretly seeing. What happen’s when she’s right infront of them the whole time.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 : none??? also this is my first ever fanfiction so please bare with.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

liked by dominicfike, bobbyskeetz and 17,030 others

y/nusername : coachella, cats, cherries and chats.🍒

user : ur so gorgeous

➥ y/nusername : thank you! x

user : omg what’s the cats name?

➥ y/nusername : Lyra x

user : pretty omggg

user: dominic liked? 

➥ user : i know wtf, crossover? 

user: is that dominic? 

➥ user: don’t be dumb 

user : that literally dominic. that’s his sweater

➥ user : not only 1 person has that sweater

You were sat in Dominic’s trailer at Coachella while he was doing soundcheck with his band. You had just posted on instagram which led you to scroll endlessly, through the comments and the home feed. 3 knocks were heard on the door which startled you at first.

“Come in!” soon the door opened revealing the sweaty florida boy who has just finished rehearsing. “Hey babe”. Dom strolled over to you placing a kiss on your forehead which made your cheeks turn a light shade of pink which was covered up by the blush you put on this morning. 

“How was soundcheck?” “It was good, it’s so hot out there today i thought i was gonna pass out” you chuckled to yourself shutting your phone off throwing it to the other end of the sofa while letting out a sigh. 

“What’s wrong?”. Dom was currently patting his face down with a towel while downing bottles of waters and piecing together his hair after coming back in a sweat. Lately you’ve been thinking a lot about your relationship with Dominic. Nothing negative of course. You loved him endlessly but all you wanted to do was to be able to walk around in the public eye freely without people secretly taking photos and making assumptions on your relationship. You get the odd comments every now again on your posts or his posts whenever you’re in the same area but no one even knew you knew hung out one on one without your groups around. He came and joined you on the sofa throwing your phone back onto ur lap as he groaned from still being hot and sweaty. He had his arm around the back on the chair and head leaned back which soon turned into your direction. “I want to go public… with our relationship. Not straight away obviously but we should start hinting something”. “Why’d you say that?” He gave the impression that it was fine for this to be kept a secret when in reality he wanted to be by your side 24/7 and nothing more than to kiss and hold you in public. He started playing with your hair twirling it around his finger while still making direct eye contact trying to figure out if you were being serious. “I’m just so sick of hiding what we have. We are people just like everyone else. We should be allowed to talk and interact without us worrying about peoples assumptions”…

It was silent for a minute or two. The silence wasn’t filled however the thoughts in each others heads broke it. “Let’s do it?” “Huh?” “Let’s go public then.” Dom said standing up pulling his phone out and unlocking it. You quickly snatched it off of him which caused him to look up at you again “Hey-!”

“Announce it tonight.” “What?” “On stage. Dedicate a song to me instead of posting photos online. We can then do that whenever” you said also standing up wrapping your arms around his shoulders which led him to putting his hands around your waist and foreheads resting against eachother.

 “Okay.” “Okay?” “Yeah ok. I’ll dedicate a song to you. I’m not telling you which one though” 

“Deal?” He held out his pinky to make it a promise. “Deal.” And with that you interlocked fingers and shook on it. 

It was a few hours later and Dom was performing on stage. You were stood in front of the barricade with the photographers, security guards and a mix of his and your friends who arrived later in the day. You spent the first few songs singing, dancing and looking around. You spotted a bunch of people holding up signs for Dominic and screaming at the top of their lungs for the boy. It made you happy that these people have travelled all the way here to see him to see him in his element. You soon got snapped out of your trance when ‘How Much Is Weed?’ suddenly ended. “I want to dedicate this next song to my girlfriend.” while sending a wink in your direction which made fans scream. It wasn’t obvious that it was you to others but this moment felt special and euphoric to you both. All of a sudden ‘Ant Pile’ started playing through the speaks which made your jaw drop. You laughed slightly which cause him to also giggle on stage midway through the first lyric. 

liked by user, dominicfikelover and 120,289 others

dominicfikeupdates: Dom dedicated his song ‘Ant Pile’ to his unknown girlfriend at his set at Coachella today. 

user : i was there and let me tell you my heart broke a little 

user : he winked in the direction of y/n and her friends. 

➥ user : everyone in their friend group are in couples apart from…

➥ user : oh my god. 

user : @y/nusername @dominicfike you’ve got some explaining to do

➥ y/nusername : whoops 🏃

You ran backstage after Dom’s set finished while smiling ear to ear. Quickly flashing your stage pass at the security guards you ran to him jumping into his arms. “I love you so much”. “I love you more” 

He pushed your hair out of ur face giving you a long passionate kiss. His arm wrapped around your shoulder leading you back towards his trailer. This time you flopped back onto the sofa letting out a breathe you didn’t know you were holding in.

liked by dominicfike, radvxz and 302,299 others

y/nusername : “And that’s when you kissed me” ☀️

dominicfike : i love you 

➥ y/nusername : i guess i love you too. evil man. 

     ➥ dominicfike : HAAHAH

dominicfike: mother 

➥ y/nusername : get out of my comments. 

user : well this wasn’t expected. 

➥ user : i suspected it. 

     ➥ user : no one asked. 

user : OH. MY GOD. 

radvxz : come back to england. don’t bring him with you. 

➥ y/nusername : deal. 

     ➥ dominicfike : right well…

         ➥ radvxz : i wifed first. 

            ➥ dominicfike : who said we aren’t married

              ➥ y/nusername : who said i’d say yes. 

liked by clairo, billieeilish and 580,929 others 

dominicfike : “my yellow” ☀️

y/nusername : ANT PILE??

➥ user : she’s just as shook as us 

     ➥ y/nusername : he didn’t tell me what song he’d dedicate to me. 

user : ummm

➥user : ummmm

     ➥ user : UMMMM HELLO?

billieeilish : at least i didn’t post about it

feliciathegoat : thank god finally 

                                 ︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

author: i’ve never written before so this was scary but i tried my best. i just need ideas to post about so i can do it properly - love matilda! pls gimme time xx

[egophiliac]

I was wanting to try doing an art piece in the style of the signature spell poster art pieces you create. But I’m not really the best at coming up with a composition for such a thing.

Do you have a process for how you come up with the compositions for them?

oh, awesome! it is an INCREDIBLY enjoyable style to work in; I hope you have fun with it! :D

I'm not great at putting my thought/art process into words, so my apologies if this doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'll try! my first step is always to do a LOT of thumbnails to figure out both the idea and how I want to show it; not trying to do a real sketch or anything, just little doodles to figure out what exactly I'm trying to portray. (I also call these "garbage passes" because they're not meant to be any good, they're just there to throw things out. aha. ha. ...anyway.) I think it's important during that first stage to really focus on the idea and the layout and not to get too bogged down in the actual drawing yet!

I tend to save my final thumbnails, so I'll use 'em as examples (I posted the ones up through episode 5 here if you're interested!) (and, uhhh, spoilers through episode 5 also in this post, hopefully that won't be an issue!)

the main thing I try to think about in composition is balance -- not necessarily in terms of symmetry, but in where each element is placed and how much space it's taking up. remember, empty space is still space! it's also really important to think about the parts that don't have anything in them, as much as the parts that do!

personally, I like to divide things up roughly by both halves and by thirds -- there's a lot more in-depth info out there on why the "rule of thirds" in particular works well visually, but in short, our brains tend to focus on things that are placed closer to imaginary division lines, instead of in the exact center of an image. so even when I'm doing something that is very centered and symmetrical, I try to keep that in mind and generally aim around those for landmarks like faces/eyes (or...where they would be, anyway) and other focal points.

it's not a formula of "the character's face should be in this division of this grid" or anything, more like "our minds like to focus on these areas, let's think about how to use that", if that makes sense! and of course rules are made to be broken, art is lawless anarchy, and so on. but it can be a good starting place for deciding where you want to put things!

(blue - thirds, red - half)

and against the finished versions, because they do usually end up changing a lot (including the empty space of the border):

(...these actually lined up a lot better than I thought they would. :') it makes me look like I do things way more intentionally than I do.)

other stuff I just try to keep in mind is that our eyes like following arcs and paths, which can be a good way to guide the eye:

and frame and control the focus:

honestly, composition is one of those things I feel like I struggle with a lot, so I'm not sure how much of this is helpful or actually makes sense outside of my head. but hopefully it helps a little! it's all just stuff to think about while drawing and not anything hard-and-fast, so don't, like, stress out about making sure things are lining up exactly on the thirds or anything. again, it's more "our brains think these are the dopest parts of the rectangle" than anything else! take advantage of the cool parts of the rectangle!

NOW GO HAVE FUN DRAWING seriously though, it is always super cool that other people like this idea and style enough to want to do it themselves and for other/their own characters! thank you! ❤️❤️❤️

[l-in-the-light]

So the SBS for newest volume was revealed and...

SBS corner isn't considered spoilers for me, but if it is for you, please skip this post, duh!

I just wanted to point out I was part of the camp that said it was Kizaru since the beginning, so even though it's not stated black on white (it's white on black, actually), I still think this is as close to a confirmation as we will ever get, so let me brag for a second:

Feels good, haha.

Now down to the nitpicks, so *why* did I think it was Kizaru from the start? (well, I did suspect Caribou too, but it's later revealed he was with Augur and Devon instead).

At first it was just a fight, Luffy vs Kizaru. He calls it "playing around" and Luffy declares that the same "playing around" is Luffy's job. It's important to remember that, because I think Kizaru realized he could use that for his own purposes.

Just when Saturn arrives and soon after Luffy loses G5, Kizaru's attitude changes to "this is not good". This change in situation was something he didn't consider to be desirable, despite that it tipped the scales in favour of the Marines.

Then Kizaru takes his sweet time when he realizes Luffy finally has reached his limit. I'm not saying this fight didn't take a toll on Kizaru, he was panting before at the very least, but let's not forget that if he moved now he would have to finish Luffy off. Seems like his original plan was to push Luffy beyond his limit before any other players (like Saturn) arrive.

"Someone gimme food"

Kizaru realizes the situation is rapidly escalating now and in all the wrong ways. Strawhats and the present-on-scene Vegapunks are all immobilized, Luffy run out of energy, Sentomaru got captured, Saturn is holding Bonney and giving order for Marines to shoot at her. One second of hesitation is enough for Bonney to lose her life. And all Kizaru can do now is to be worried about his dear friends and witness them dying. Or perhaps... he could help tip the scales a bit again.

And in next moment Saturn realized someone gave Luffy food. No one saw Luffy move away, no one is near him either, Strawhats are still immobilized btw (including Sanji and Franky). This thing could have been done only by Caribou or Kizaru, but Kizaru would be faster and indeed impossible to spot if he moved with his speed of light.

And we can see Kizaru also moved, he's no longer lying down but sitting instead. He doesn't say anything, but he has the "..." thought bubble that looks very distressed (the tore-up border of the bubble is betraying Kizaru's emotions in this scene). Is he perhaps thinking something like "I hope no one will figure it out" or "I think no one should have noticed"? Would be pretty fitting.

Overall it was a good plan, but Luffy didn't restore his strength in time to help Bonney. It was actually Kuma's unexpected arrival that saved her (very touching moment).

And that's Kizaru's only reaction to Kuma's arrival. His body language shows relief, but his words kinda contradict that.

Only after Kuma punches Saturn, Sanji, Franky and Vegapunk are "released" from the immobility spell, which causes Sanji to immediately collapse to the ground, apparently. This is the definitive proof that they couldn't have been the ones who helped Luffy before.

Kizaru's back to "playing around", openly declaring he just wants to test Strawhats growth. Very interesting, considering the situation worsened for the Marines. By all means he should be quick and down to business instead of playing around. Seems he made his decision of how to manage the situation: again, by stalling for time and observing how it all proceeds, while just resorting to "playing around".

Here though he declares something contradictionary to his behaviour from mere moments ago. Perhaps beause he's speaking to Saturn. He emphasized the point that too many people are around and they need to be quick. But when you're quick you might have to prioritize impact over efficiency (which leaves openings for possible escape - Kizaru wouldn't be able to guarantee every target is actually eliminated).

Kizaru probably still was hoping to avoid this result, but once he realized he can't save Vegapunk no matter what, he decides it's better if he kills him himself. At least it will be quick with his powers, you know? The least he can do for his friend is to relieve him from his suffering, make sure his death is a bit more humanitarian than slowly bleeding out. Before Saturn actually stabbed Vegapunk, Kizaru was not ready to make this decision btw, always choosing to do something else (go after Strawhats, engage in the fight with Luffy, lying down beaten up).

This scene further proves my point. Kizaru assures them this is a mercy killing that won't hurt a bit. Because he believes the only alternative would be a very painful death instead. Thankfully him betting on Luffy was a good move, because it's Luffy who stops him here. So it officially looks like Kizaru did everything he could to kill Kuma and Bonney, but the enemy stopped him, so the end result can't be blamed on Kizaru. He's doing that dance between stalling the fight and avoiding the worst case scenario for most of Egghead's arc.

"I'm in a real pickle now". Yes, he is indeed. Sanji is cute btw for offering him an easy way out, lol. Kizaru will still have to write that apology letter to Akainu anyway.

And finally Luffy sent him flying far, far away, and this time Kizaru doesn't even try to get up anymore. That's it for him. He had to kill Vegapunk with his own hands and I think he didn't expect how big of a toll it will take on him. Luffy in a way provided him another easy way out of the situation, because if Kizaru just stays here and hopes for the Strawhats to take Bonney to safety, then at least he would have saved her.

So this is what I believe Kizaru was trying to do all this time. Avoid killing Vegapunk somehow (though he knew there was a really slim chance for that, but a man can still hope, right?) and at the very least make sure Bonney won't die on Egghead. Kizaru indeed has a heart, but he also has to make sure not to lose face and he can't really disobey or ditch his responsibilities as a Marine Admiral. But he definitely wasn't lying when he said he was forced to kill his best friend, and he truly wished he wouldn't have to do that.

That being said, I wonder what's his plan from this point onward. Some people suggested he might retire after this, but I think somehow that would erase the whole point of his struggle here, it would make it lose it's meaning. But he definitely showed us a little bit of his rebellious side. Though we need to remember, he ended up being just a circumenstencial ally to Strawhats, at least at this point in time.

What's the moral of this story? NEVER TRUST A "..." THOUGHT BUBBLE. It hides secrets, every. single. time. If Oda delibaretely hides character's thoughts from us, but emphasizes it by using "..." thought bubble, then ask questions, dig deeper, there's something to discover there. Also I don't mean speech bubbles, just thought bubbles. This has been a thing in many other mangas, it's not just a One Piece visual storytelling gimmick. For example, Death Note used that device in exactly same way, pfff.

[swordoffrivolousthings]

Thoughts about Heroes of Olympus and how it could have been better.

Sometimes I think about what would have made HOO a better series. And I'm not talking about the obvious 'too much focus on romantic relationships' and the lack of usage of certain characters or the dumb ending.

I mean the little things that would change so much (mainly character dynamics but also worldbuilding i.e. Camp Jupiter and Gaia's reasoning)

Some of the points are inspired by @crisisreading and their posts. They are the first I saw raise some of my own points so! part 2

Make the ages vary more in the main cast, trust me

Let Percy, Annabeth and Grover get older by 4-5 years. Let them become adults and find themselves outside the godly war. Let them even finish college, I wouldn't get mad. Let them do anything beside being teenagers.

I promise this would make the dynamics more interesting. Percy and Annabeth will be more mentor figures, than fellow comrades. This would create some distance between some of the them, but ultimately create something fun. Piper would come to see some aspiring female figure in Annabeth (I think this would ether be positive or negative, depending how Annabeth changed as a character over the years, but I tend towards negative). Leo would potentially have someone older to exchange ideas with. Jason would possibly feel intimidated by Percy's vastly superior age, prowess and experience, instead of being able to clash heads with him.

Hazel would have not one, but two that people that would play parent to the others' reckless behavior. (go snort your harmful stereotypes up your ass, Riordan.) Frank, when telling Percy and Hazel about his stick, would possibly find in Percy a kind hand (not that he wasn't kind already, let me explain) and Percy would probably share with him this feeling of vulnerability - not dump it on Frank - about having your life tied to a specific thing. I mean his Achilles heel, with which he would have lived for far longer.

And a whole lot more.

2. Add Grover into the series as a perspective character

You have a new trio dynamic introduced in the first book of the series. Let the original trio interact as main characters and let us see how their relationship has changed.

Grover's opinion on the conflict between the gods and Gaia would be important. He is the Lord of the Wild, and Gaia is the literal personification of the Earth. Let us see his struggle between the loyalty he has to the gods and his friends and his powerful feelings towards protecting nature.

Also, he would act as a protector for the demigods. Because while I enjoy Hedge, he is not enough to keep them safe.

3. Throw the bullshit about Gaia getting revenge for Kronos' defeat out of the way

Gaia, as mentioned before, if the personification of the Earth. One of the first gods to emerge from Chaos.

Gaia can, of course, keep her resentment for the gods defeating the son that freed her from her pain (caused by Ouranos initially). But she is a mother goddess. She should want obliterate humanity because humans are slowly killing her. Painfully. She wants to survive and the only way she sees how if by killing all the humans. She wants to save her children, aka animals, insects, nature, and the only way she sees is bloodshed. Gods are not rational in their anger, no one is. So let her be angry and vengeful and out for human blood.

DO NOT MAKE HER A FUCKING VILLAIN, MAN! Make her an antagonist, but someone's whose ideals are worth taking in and adapting. Kinda like Luke about the demigod and minor god recognition. Where have the themes of the original series gone? Remember, an important theme in BOTL was protecting the environment. It was one of the most important moments when Pan faded. Do not let that go to fucking waste. Especially not now, in the world we live in.

4. Show the effects the war had on Camp Half-Blood. Hint it at Camp Jupiter, when Percy does not have the memories to corelate it with

We've had years since the end of the Second Titan War. How did the gods change the course of events ? (the victors write the histories) How much of Luke's reasoning for starting the war was erased. (hint, all of it.) Show us how much the perspectives were shifted and how much the people that fought in it were made into martyrs and villain, basically becoming caricatures.

Let us feel how much this hurts Percy, Grover and Annabeth. How it had impacted and impacts their trauma, grief and utter horror. The younger, newer campers see them as wonderful, all-just and loyal heroes of the gods. The way they hate it.

Good moment to implement the new cabins for the gods and let the new ones forget that it wasn't always this way. Let Percy's demand to the gods be forgotten, shoved under the rug. The tragedy unfolds, use it.

Since in Camp Jupiter none of the main characters have fought, let us see the subtility. Let the older legionnaires be ragged, scarred. Older and weary, with eyes glassy and suspicious. Have younger recruits have this heavy air around them. They know what happened, what killed most of the older people in the legion.

Have Jason, Hazel and Frank see these things in Annabeth, Grover and Percy too. They realise that oh. oh. these three have fought in the war, of course they would. Show them gain respect for the trio. The same kind of respect they have for the veterans back home.

5. Cut one of the Seven from the prophecy.

I know this seems radical, but it is a symbolism thing, which I think would be more interesting in a world based on Greek mythology.

It is established in PJO that three (3) is an important number: 3 Olympian sisters (Hera, Demeter, Hestia), 3 Olympian brothers (Hades, Poseidon, Zeus), 3 Fates, 3 quest members, 3 Furies, 3 godly realms (the Underworld, Olympus + the sky, the seas). Use this.

Give us six (6) prophesized heroes. It is, after all, the second most used number in the series and a multiple of 3.

I suggest Annabeth. Why? because she has her quest from Athena. Let that be her top priority, while hanging out on the Argo II to get to Rome. Let her bond with the younger demigods and have her possible death be always on her mind. Bring her hubris into play and she would think herself the chosen one, the one demigod child of Athena to survive. This would make her falling into Tartarus with Percy not letting her go more taxing on her psyche.

Show us how she hates herself because she took one of the principal quest members to certain death. She feels like she'd jeopardized the whole saving the world thing.

Cut the Seven to Six and let Annabeth die in Tartarus. Show us why a single-man quest is a death sentence. Why three (3) is such a valuable number.

6. CONSEQUENCES!!!

Jumping straight off the last point.

Change why Annabeth would end up in Tartarus. Make her ignore the string around her ankle because she thing that nothing bad can happen to her now. After all, Arachne is gone, right.

Let this be her undoing. I do not care how she dies, but make her choices, her hubris, be her undoing. Do not let her death up to a chance, a mistake or miscalculation. Show how toxic Tartarus is, because we do not see it enough, but make it Annabeth's idea, the plan by which she dies.

Do not make it Percy's fault. Let him try to do everything to keep her alive, but still failing. Attack his sense of loyalty, his self-esteem. Show how the experiences and her death affect him.

Bring the trauma from the last war back in those chapters, in a place where demigods leave something behind.

To less drastic things - let the others get hurt. Permanently. Show how this life affects and damages people physically, too.

Have one lose an eye, another get horrific scars. Lose a limb, a part of themselves. Do not make it seem like any other could have gotten the same wound.

Tailor them to their character, their pride and their skill. Hit them where it hurts most and let us see how it changes them.

Also, about Leo. Kill him too. The fact that he ended up alive is a deux ex machina. He should have suffered the consequences.

Also also, bring back the fatal flaws. They are missing from the series. Play with them, show why they are important parts of their characters. Bring back ancient Greek fatal flaws, and new ones that make sense in a modern world.

Hurt them because what hurts them is part of who they are. Show us why the Greeks invented tragedy.

7. Age up the target age. Go more young/new adult

I understand that PJO was made for middle schoolers. But the target audience had grown up alongside the characters, and as such they have matured.

This is why I said to age Percy, Grover and Annabeth up further. Leave some distance for the old and new readers to get up and personal with the new main characters. Have them find common ground with the new demigods but have their anchor in the old ones.

Make the readers work to understand and refamiliarize themselves wit the older demigods. Because they've changed.

Targeting a more mature audience allows exploring n. 6. The realistic consequences of living with the fear that something will come and eat you. How just a little mishap could change you for life. (or what has been left of it)

Please do not go grim dark. Show that despite this all, their purpose has not stopped existing. A life exists outside of your appearance or disability still exist, and while it would be hard, do not lose hope.

8. Hope, or lack of its importance in the Heroes of Olympus series

Alongside other callbacks and reinforcements of PJO's lore, where is Elpis (hope)? Why doesn't she appear as a larger theme in the books? I don't know.

Elpis is still in the jar, having been used as a threat of defeat. But now Kronos is gone. Have Gaia use it as s symbol for her own cause.

Make hope Gaia's argument. The most important part of why her cause stands. Gaia is waking now because there is no hope for the betterment of the planet while in human - and therefore godly - grasp. She wants to save the planet, but they, the destroyers, are opposing her.

Hope is what she wants to bring back. The hope that death will not be the end of life, but further evolvement and betterment of all species.

This argument is what the counterargument should unravel. All species? Why are humans considered irredeemable, unworthy of becoming something greater?

Why can't they not coexist and why can't humans learn how to care about the world surrounding them.

Make hope for humanity and for the environment not a question of if they are capable to coexist, but how we can manage that. Humanity and nature are not mutually exclusive, but two halves of the same whole that need each other to sustain their longevity. Yes, nature can exist without humans, but humans can't.

This does not mean that the best way forward is to kill all humans.

There is no need for hope in HOO because there are no greater questions being asked about topics that require hope, because otherwise we would descend into nihilism and fatalism.

9. Give the gods reason to act the way they act, or a look at a greater narrative problem in the series

I may be generalizing, but the gods act erratically and make choices convenient for the plot, as it is, to happen.

Hera: how, specifically, does she know that Gaia is rising and what her plans are. Why is she against Gaia, when the older goddess has a track record of helping the Olympians on different occasions in the myths. Why does she decide to act when she does, how she knows that the king of the giants (whatever his name may be) is coming after her right then.

We don't know.

Athena: we understand why she wants the Athena Parthenos back. Why not force the Romans to give it back. After all, she is a goddess, even if the Romans don't respect her as the Greeks did, she has power and sway over them. Why send her children, a supposedly important part of what brings her glory, to a near-certain death. Is it misguided vengeance, an obsession to get the statue back at all cost, or simple cruelty. These reasons could apply very well to sending the Romans, yet she doesn't.

Zeus: why lock down Olympus? Paranoia, which fair, but you are a King, why wouldn't you look after your subjects? (bc Riordan chose to ignore part of his characterization in the myths and part of his godly domain) (I know kings aren't perfect, but after the last war, one would think he would do everything in his power to stop another one before it begins) Why not seek justice for Octavian's lies, that affect their ability to win the war, and kill/imprison him? Justice is part of his domain, as Zeus Nomius.

I know that we wouldn't necessarily need these answers, but without some of them, some choices left hanging seem to be there only to add to the drama and danger of it all.

All in all, I have many problems with the 'Heroes of Olympus' series. Some of them are nitpicks and personal preference as a high fantasy reader in my free time. Some of them would really add to the story and continue the themes of PJO.

Please ask me if something wasn't clear to you. I'll happily explain further.

If you find something you don't agree with, let's discuss. I'm open to changing my opinions.