#I just took one(1) peek to check some new mods

[edgepunk]

whyyyy is there cbp2077 modding drama again and it's the same fucking people

[elfwriter1088]

Old Guard (Chapter 1)

A/n: 2 chapters in one day! This is all that I got for now. Again, I blame @badassbaker for getting me to post my story up. Go check out their blog! (They’re so AMAZING! I can’t stress them enough).

Disclaimer: Again, I don’t own any of the Old Guard characters: they belong to their respectful owners. I only own those that you would not recognize from the comics (i.e. Nyx, Erik, etc)

---(chapter 1)---

Upon setting foot on Moroccan soil, Nyx was quick to get directions to the hotel that the others were going to gather. Preferring to walk to the destination, Nyx was treated to the luxury of sightseeing of a whole new different world far from what the woman was used to seeing. Merchants trying to sell their goods to those that passed by their stalls; children laughing and running around while playing with each other. Nyx smiled at the sight while making sure to keep her old military scarf covering her hair from falling out of place. Armed only with an old army issued pack slung over her shoulder while a small duffel bag held her xyili, a couple of SOG tactical knives and her ‘hidden blades’, she ventured her way to the meeting place.

Once checked into the hotel, she made her way to where she was sure to meet with the others. At the door, she raised her hand to knock but paused. She hesitated in knocking right away...why? She was going to be amongst her friends, her team...her family. Releasing a soft sigh, she then proceeded to knock three times. She eagerly awaited as to whom would answer the door. Biting at her lower lip, she didn’t have to wait long before the door opened up and…

“Hi…” she greeted the person on the other side of the door.

Nicky grinned as he leaned in to kiss at her cheek before giving her a big hug. He was pretty fond of the petite woman ever since he met her and Andy all those years ago and has never once been at more ease than with Nyx and Joe. He had wondered if she was going to show up at all, given that Book had to call all of them to meet here; Joe and himself had arrived first before Booker and Andy came to the room not even a half hour ago.

“È bello vederti, Nyx. Com'è stato il viaggio qui??” he asked once they pulled away.

*It is good to see you, Nyx. How was the trip out here?*

“Lungamente ... ricordami di sculacciare Book per avermi fatto usare la scusa dell '"emergenza familiare" per l'altro lavoro. Spero che valga la pena usarlo per fare questo lavoro..”

*Long...remind me to spank Book for making me use the 'family emergency' excuse for the other job. I hope it was worth using that to do this job*

Nicky laughed at the comment as he led Nyx to where the others were sitting around and awaiting her arrival. Joe was the first to spot her and rushed over to bear hug the other brunette.

“آه ، نيكس الصغير. فاتنا وجودك معنا في المنزل. آمل أنك لست غريب الأطوار على بعض الحلوى ، عزيزي” Joe said as he lifted the newly-arrived woman up in the air a couple of inches.

*Ah, little Nyx. We missed having you stay with us at the house. I hope you're not too cranky for some sweets, dear one*

“You’re too kind, sir. I’m sure that you saved whatever delicious treat you have from Andy eating it,” Nyx replied back, surprised that everyone wanted to test out how fluent Nyx could get with it.

Once Joe pulled away from her arms, she glanced over to see the woman in question clearly enjoying some baklava.

“Ελπίζω πραγματικά αυτό που νομίζω ότι είναι, Andromache.” she glanced at the other woman with a soft smile.

*I really hope that's what I think it is, Andromache*

“You know I can’t speak our native tongue for shit nowadays, Nyx. Stop showing off and get some of this,” Andy replied back, making sure to not choke on the flavorful treat she had in her hands while passing one to her oldest friend and comrade.

Nyx took the piece offered to her and took a small bite. She closed her eyes to pinpoint what she thought was in the dessert.

“East Turkey...however...there’s anise in this. There’s only one place that makes it...and she has Persian roots,” Nyx remarked as she opened her eyes and saw Booker looking at her with a soft glance in his eyes.

“Pay up. Nyx always seems to find that one detail that everyone misses,” the Frenchman replied with a chuckle.

“What was the bet? Andy guessing where it’s from? How much?” Nyx asked, one eyebrow quirked up in piqued interest.

“Cinq cents ... et tu viens de me rendre riche à nouveau, ma chérie” he simply replied back with a smirk only reserved for her.

*Five hundred...and you just made me rich again, sweetheart*

“Oh per favore. Nyx, ha bisogno di scopare. Sono sicuro che voi due potete trovare Booker una donna che gli farà una bella scopata”

*Oh please. Nyx, he needs to get laid. I'm sure that you two can find Booker a woman to give him a good fuck*

Nicky’s comment had Nyx laughing her butt off as she felt tears forming at the corners of her eyes. This was one thing she missed being in Nicky’s presence--the Italian knew how to get her to laugh off a bad situation with a joke or two.

“Sai ... potrebbe non aver bisogno di trovare una donna della notte se continua a essere tutto scontroso intorno a noi mentre parliamo nella tua lingua madre, amore mio” Joe replied as he came to hug Nicky from behind the Italian.

*You know...he might not need to find a woman of the night if he continues to be all grumpy around us while we speak in your native tongue, my love*

Nyx, unlady-like, snorted at Joe’s remark; her sides were starting to ache from the constant laughter she was experiencing at the moment. Booker gave a dirty look to the other two men before he rose to his feet and went to give the newly arrival a hug of his own.

“Si seulement ils savaient ...” he whispered in her ear.

*If only they knew...*

“Je ne le passerais pas devant eux pour savoir ... Andy ... peut-être pas.”

*Would not put it past them to know...Andy...maybe not.*

“Ok, enough with the teasing. So...how do we meet Copley?” the leader announced, breaking up anymore time for testing out Nyx’s vast knowledge of languages and getting to the reason they all assembled.

After the meetup with Copley, the group was getting ready for the assignment. Most of the small details were taken care of and now was time for catching up on some needed sleep before diving right into the mission. Nyx was sitting on the railing in the balcony, sipping on a cup of tea that was made by Nicky prior to him going to bed a couple hours ago. Dressed in a pair of shorts and a baggy sweater that allowed one shoulder to peek out, Nyx’s eyes were hidden behind a pair of big framed glasses while her hair was piled up in a topknot that looked messy, but intentional. In her hand was a SMOK RPM 40 vape mod--yeah, she had her vices, like the others have theirs; however, one of hers was smoking. She gave up on cigarettes, which was the hardest vice to give up after having smoked them for over a hundred years and forty years. Drinking...Nyx knew that both Andy and Booker drink to forget of their ‘lonely’ states of mindset of being without their families. Nyx would know better, she had to watch her kids and grandkids and their kids grow old and die. Raphael and Erik, although young in her eyes, were just among one of the last remaining descendents still alive and in somewhat good health.

Taking a puff and blowing a smoke ring into the somewhat stifling night air, Nyx’s eyes closed to take in the sensation and breathe in the calmness of the night before a big assignment. Although, this is how Nyx always would do prior to one of the ‘big ones’, as she would call assignments that would take a lot out of her emotionally and mentally. She was so engrossed in the serenity that she wasn’t paying attention to movement behind her until a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist, making sure to keep her on the railing and not have her fall and hurt herself. Nyx literally jumped in the air a bit, grabbing at the arms and holding onto dear life.

“Détends-toi, chérie. Je ne voulais pas te faire peur, ma reine.” His husky voice caused  echoes of a shiver to run down her spine, sparking desire and lust throughout her entire body. *Relax, sweetheart. Did not mean to scare you, my queen.*

“You know I wasn’t a queen, Book…” she replied back as she turned her head to the side, seeing hazel-muted green eyes looking at her with a soft side that was only for her.

“You are to me, Alexina.”

The petite woman slowly maneuvered her body around so that she was facing Booker. Her topknot flopped to the side as Nyx tilted her head a little bit while she looked to the Frenchman.

"And what is that you see in me that justifies you calling me such a title, Sebastian?" Nyx asked; her voice gave away hints of insecurity and low esteem to being called a queen when Nyx knew that she was not one.

Booker was a little taken back of her using his given name from birth, but once again: this was Nyx. She usually fell back to using anyone's given name once in a while. Here, she was using it as a way to show her true colors with him. After all, she found him and mentored him when the group all dreamt of him. One of his hands reached up to where the hair tie held her hair and took it out, allowing her dark brown hair tumble down to her shoulders in loose waves. He carded his fingers through her hair, causing her to close her eyes and lean her head towards his hand.

"Is mian liom go bhfeicfeá cé chomh hálainn atá tú faoi láthair, a ghrá. le gruaig seo silky agus lush, déanann tú gach scéal faoi mhná de do chuid ama cuma plain i gcomparáid leatsa ag an nóiméad seo." He simply stated as he stared at her. *I wish you could see how beautiful you are right now, my love. With hair this silky and lush, you make all stories of women of your time look plain compared to you at this moment.*

Nyx opened her eyes, confusion on her face at his words. Ah, there was a language she never learned, Booker mused to himself as he took in the newly found knowledge. He smirked as he brushed her cheek with his other hand.

"Ní bhfuair tú aon smaoineamh cad atá á rá agam anois, an bhfuil? Bhuel, is faoiseamh é sin. Ba mhaith liom a bheith trína chéile dá dtuigfeá cad é a dhéanann tú domsa, Sparta beag." *You got no idea what I'm saying right now, do you? Well, that's a relief. I would be upset if you understood what it is that you do to me, little Sparta.*

"Ω, ξέρω τι είπες, Σεμπάστιαν. Αυτά είναι εύκολα χρήματα εκεί. Αλλά, και πάλι, τα ελληνικά είναι τόσο ξένα για σας που είναι σαν να οδηγώ ένα ποδήλατο μετά από τόσο καιρό για μένα. Αν μόνο ήξερες πόσο μεγάλο μέρος της καρδιάς μου ανήκει σε εσένα, πώς όλα περιστρέφονται γύρω σου και ότι θα πεθάνω αν με πάρεις τόσο ξαφνικά." Nyx said as she raised her hands to cup his face. *Oh I know what you said, Sebastian. That's easy money right there. But, then again, Greek is so foreign to you that it's like riding a bicycle after so long for me. If only YOU knew how much of my heart belongs to you, how everything revolves around you and that I'd die if you were taken from me so sudden.*

Booker leaned his head forward, closing his eyes as he felt her forehead against his and let out a sigh of content. He could feel her breath mix with his as his other hand grasped at her hip gently.

"Coming to bed?" He asked softly.

"I'll be there in a bit. Unless you can convince me otherwise," she replied back, her voice hoarse from holding back all the emotions she was feeling at that moment.

Booker only smirked before closing the gap, ghosting his lips against her before pulling back slowly. Opening his eyes, he could see Nyx staring at him with a sense of admiration and tenderness only reserved for him. He then grabbed at the back of her thighs, lifting her up from the railing; this caused Nyx to scramble to wrap her arms around his neck and shoulders to prevent falling out of his arms. He chuckled as he walked them back inside the room, closing the door with his foot behind them.

[annakie]

An Annotated Mass Effect Playthrough, Part Eight

List of Posts: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

I accidentally messed up the numbering on part Seven’s link to post six, so if you missed post six (or yesterday’s part seven), the numbering up there is correct.

Wherein we get back out into the galaxy, explore, help some people, and kill some others!

So now that we have Liara, it’s time to really dig into the galaxy.  We have a few people we talked to on the CItadel who need help, and maybe we’ll stumble into a few more things along the way.

First of all, let’s check out the galaxy map...

Hey wait a sec, what’s this?

Petra Nebula!?  Oh hey, another new addition by the ME1 Recalibrated mod.

Gorgeous map, only one system available.

Heeeey we recognize this place, we’ll get to go there in.... two games!

Can’t land there (or anywhere in the system) but it’s cool that it exists! There are a couple of other neat little things in the system I didn’t screenshot so that you can have a cool new experience yourself if you decide to use the mod on your next playthrough.

What I really miss from ME3, by the way, is the % markers which note when you’ve fully explored a system or if there’s more stuff to find there.

Anyway, my PLAN had been to take a screenshot of each planet or spacecraft before I entered it to help orient the playthrough better, and then the non-screenshotting couple of hours happened, so we lost some of that along the way, sorry.  

Still, let’s see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into.

I love this planet.  The lava juuuuust below the surface, peeking out.  Just some of the coolest terrain in the game.

What a great view, let’s get a little clo--

OOPS.

I meant to do that.

Wide open spaces with no fears of a thresher maw living in the lava! ...I hope?

Ah, here’s our objective, a distress signal being sent from this location, let’s see if we can help...

FUCKING GETH AMBUSH.

Aw yeah, jumping over those explosives like a pro!

...most of the time.

Well this planet was a bust.  Let’s see if we can actually help someone.

Another planet, scanned a few things, not sure what we’re doing here but hey, I found a lone building!

Ah yes, a prefab which is totally different from all the prefabs we’ll enter because the creates are stacked in a different configuration.

Honestly they should have put one of these prefabs in ME3 for Old Times Sake. (The ones that actually look like homes/labs/whatever make so much more sense.)

Annnd we’re being attacked.  Not sure why, but here we go!

Awww yeah, Throw!  And Ash and Kaidan managing to be useful I think?

Except they let a guy slip by us, but luckily there’s a convenient explosive nearby.  That got ‘em.

OK back to facing forward OH FUCK A KROGAN.

Kaidan’s biotics and my shotgun, a favorite combination.  Now stay down!

Sweet, level up!

And that fight’s over, time to explore this pla...

Whew, thanks Kaidan.

This guy thought he could sneak past me.  Well me, my shotgun and my 20 shield strength sure showed him.

ME1 combat is so... messy though.  I mean, I honestly still enjoy it, but I’m in the camp that agrees combat gets better every game, Andromeda included.  Of course, I just REALLY LOVE Vanguarding in ME3... charging into a group of enemies, hitting Nova, spamming charge again praying that I’ll find a good target to charge to in time.  ME1 combat is basically all just... spam abilities from cover and hope your companions are doing something useful.  Being a Vanguard is more about style over substance in ME here.  I mean you do get some really useful abilities, but your shotgun isn’t that much use unless things get too close.

Which, you know, they do pretty often.

Anyway, remember... I WILL DESTROY YOU!!!

FUCK I hadn’t been back to the Citadel to pick up Nassana Dantius’ quest yet.  Let’s just reload the quicksave from outside and we’ll... come back and do this the right way later and see the entire quest.

I do this more often than I care to admit.

Also no screenshot for this but... I also found Wrex’s personal quest planet and recognized it only when I saw the building, since it’s in a pretty memorable location.  Still, grabbed everything else off the planet so it’ll be quick when it’s time to go back and do that quest.

Well let’s go back to poking around the galaxy.

Message coming in.  Patching it through.

Ah, yeah, hey Hackett.  What’s that?  You’ve got some dirty work you need me to do for you?  Cool, be right there.

Before the ME2 DLC Arrival came out, Hackett was one of Mass Effect’s biggest mysteries.  Who is this guy?  Why is he telling us to do things?  Does he have some secret agenda?  Why is he so sketchy?  Our Shepards seemed to trust him but WOW he sure did send us on some touchy missions.  Speculation was all over the place on what he looked like and what he was really doing.

Turns out, he’s just a pretty cool guy who wants you to take on all the secret spy missions the Alliance doesn’t want to take credit for.

I wish I’d saved it, but just a week or two ago I saw a pretty great post circulating about Hackett.  He IS the guy that’s going to make sure a job gets done, even if he’s not going to do it himself.  He’s the back-room Admiral with the squeaky clean image up front.  He’s the Gus Fring of the Alliance.

Also getting Lance Riddick to voice him was great.  Just a real authoritative, steady guy who you actually want to trust.  

And it turns out he looks basically exactly like most people thought, but maybe with a few more scars. (I mean, he really looks a lot like Lance Riddick, tbh)  But we don’t know that yet.  For now, let the mystery be.

Time to actually go help someone.

Ah yeah, Chairman Burns, we do negotiate with terrorists, in this case.  But they needed negotiating with.

Maxing out the Paragon-meter is worth it for moments like this.  These guys have probably suffered and it’s no surprise that no one has really listened.  Sounds like a lot about the galaxy hasn’t changed since we got out there.

This is also an excellent moment for Kaidan.

Being able to let Kaidan reason with them is fantastic.  Although he probably ultimately doesn’t make a difference mechanics wise, it’d be nice if maybe the check is easier if he’s here.  I don’t know.  But Kaidan knows, even if he’s one of the “lucky” ones who “only” gets migraines.  

One of the grossest posts I’ve seen about Kaidan are people who argue she shouldn’t be on the team because of his implants and since he has a “disability”.  Or that it’s “kinder” to sacrifice him on Virmire.  That’s some real gross ablism you’ve got there.  

Anyway, I love being able to keep this situation under control. Burns actually comes through if you do, even if those guys probably go to prison for awhile for terrorism.  Better than being dead.

Time for... another planet!

Again, didn’t take a screencap of this one but... there’s a missing survey team? I must have picked this quest up in the elevators, because normally you get it on Noveria.  Anyway,  Let’s go find them on Trebin, I’m sure they just can’t broadcast anymore or something.  It’s cool

FUCK. SHIT SHIT SHIT.  FUCK!!!

I probably could have actually used Warp or Throw or even Barrier there but... too late now!  We lived!

I was all ready to blame this on Cerberus, but creepily, there’s no explanation for who huskified them or why.   I’m still going to blame Cerberus, seems like something they’d do.

Well, time to move on.

Honestly, I can’t believe anyone who says ME1 isn’t beautiful.

And driving the Mako is FUN in places like this!

Oh there’s a camp up ahead, we’re here to find the remaining crew of a crashed ship for our new friend in the Citadel Tower.  

Again, no footage/screenshot but eventually you find where the mercenaries tracked down Willem (the brother) and killed them.  Shit.  We were too late.  I actually tear up sometimes telling Garoth that his brother died.  They held out for awhile, too, but we were too late.

It would have been nice if, say, if the very first thing we did after leaving the Citadel was to come here, we could have saved him, but I guess this quest is another way of Bioware telling us that sometimes, there’s just nothing you can do to change things.

One more quest this update, then we’re stopping back off at the Citadel next.

Presrop, one of the most well-known of the sidequest planets. (OKok, technically it’s a moon.)

One of my favorite landing sequences, just because the stars make it so... dramatic.

I mean DAMN.

Klendagon's most striking feature is, of course, the Great Rift valley that stretches across the southern hemisphere. What is most fascinating about the Rift is that it does not appear to be natural. The geological record suggests it is the result of a "glancing blow" by a mass accelerator round of unimaginable destructive power. This occurred some thirty-seven million years ago.

It took a solid three minutes of Flycam flying to get that closeup shot, btw.  I actually flew all the way in the first time I came here, and didn’t take screenshots.  Took about six minutes.  The updated texture is impressive.

Well, Hackett sent us here, let’s deal with Major Kyle.

Being nice and non-threatening gets you into places.

I’ll admit, before I came in here, I decided to cheat in enough paragon points to max out Paragon already.  For me personally, I’m trying to make sure this is an “ultimate” playthrough, a save file I can just use over and over from here on out.  I want everything to import into ME3 the first time around with all the plot flags set how I want them without messing with Gibbed’s Savegame Editor, so making sure I can convince everyone how I want them to is important.  So hey, Major Kyle, stand down.

I don’t think I’ve ever played as a Ruthless Shepard in ME1, or if I have, it’s been so long I’ve forgotten how it goes.  But he was the commanding officer at the battle of Torfan, and your CO if you’re Ruthless.  He’s also a reminder of how serious PTSD can be, and what it can do to a person.  

I also love this tidbit from the Wiki, which I didn’t know since I’d never done these particular choices before:

(In Mass Effect 2)  If Martin Burns was not saved in 2183, a news report on the Citadel will announce that Kyle is trying to form an all-biotic community as the reparations were not given to L2 biotics and they have become even more alienated from galactic society.

I really liked that if you reason with him, he doesn’t give you any trouble and turns himself in like he says.

Hey, this negotiation thing is easy when you’re the best person in the galaxy at it!!

[hidge-resource]

submitted by remadra!

Hidge and Stardew Valley (1 of 2)

She had glanced up and down the hall before shutting herself away in her room. No one had seen her. There was no one there. It was clear.

Pidge pulled out her laptop, curling up on her bed and sliding on the headphones to hear a jaunty tune. Finally, she had finished modding the game to have… well… her friends, albeit in a quieter, digital form.

Stardew Valley offered her to pick her new farm. She picked the forest, ready to relax with easy foraging. Pidge happily picked out hair and glasses to match her own, going for overalls and a green shirt with a smile. Cat person. She wanted to name it Green, just like her lion. Bebe was already in the game anyways. Green gave a soft purr of endearment, and her heart swelled. Even with Green in the hangar and Pidge all the way in her room, the girl often talked out loud to her lion when she was alone.

"Green, did you think I'd forget about you? I thought you were the smartest lion."

She skipped the intro, getting right to greeting the townsfolk. to see if her mod was working as well as she hoped.

One of the first people to greet her was in-game Keith, with a stiff 'hey' in front of Pierre's shop. Unknowingly, her friends had provided the information she needed to assess, place, and type responses for her game. The more she got to know Keith, the friendlier and more open he became. His counterpart would start a little rude, pushing others away, but he was set to come out of his shell by autumn if she kept talking to him.

Next was Shiro, who was always a few steps behind his brother when Keith was making friends. A normal big brother would probably embarrass his little sibling, but then again, Shiro and Matt were two very different squares on the alignment chart.

Speaking of Matt, she found her brother in the Stardrop Saloon, greeting her "cousin" and being invited over to his house to meet his dog. She found Lance at the arcade games, complaining about Keith beating his high score again, and spun through the rest of the greeting spiels of the game's base NPCs. Finally, she turned home to rest before little Pidge sprite passed out.

Green rumbled.

“No, I’m not going to see him yet. This game isn’t just about the progress. There’s things to do besides quests. It’s like a little ideal simple life sim. There’s a storyline and everything.”

*

After the scheduled earthquake, Pidge had her sprite run to the bathhouse and greet Allura and Coran. The in-game Alteans told her all about their friend just outside of town, who didn't come out often but was really a great cook.

His favorites were mostly artisan goods like coffee and the home cooked meals Pidge could make. The only downside to her mod was that it took longer to build up hearts with the characters she programmed in, and therefore it would take longer to become his friend. Allura handed her a package with the request to please deliver it to her friend, and Pidge felt her heart skip.

Ugh.

It's just a game.

Nevertheless, she sped back to her farm, skipping through to the lake, where she had added a little house in her mod. Finally, a message popped up, different than the previous 'nobody seems to be home'.

"Hello?"

Pidge jumped as the door slid open, slamming her laptop shut and spinning around.

"Hey, Hunk! What's up? I thought you were making cookies?"

He laughed, deep and full and relaxed.

"They've been done for hours. You missed dinner, so I thought I'd bring you something."

Even though her stomach grumbled, Pidge pulled a face. "Yay, food goo. Always a good meal to be had. Tasteless but nutritious."

That laugh again.

"No, it's actually a sandwich. I figured you'd had enough of the goo, with all the missed meal times and late nights in the lab. Are you getting enough sleep, Pidge? You look kind of tired." Hunk tilted his head, brows drawing together.

Her breath caught. He noticed? That meant that he might force her to go to bed now, but she was so close to her first real milestone in the game.

"Thanks, Hunk. You don't need to worry, I'm fine. I'll take a nap after I eat, okay?"

"Okay. See you later, Pidge."

He set the food down and stepped out with a wave.

That was close.

Shut up, Green.

*

Pidge was playing Stardew Valley. Hunk could recognize that melody anywhere. As soon as she left for the lab to check on her equipment after her nap, he guiltily snuck in to peek at her laptop, bringing his own. There had to be a reason she wasn't sleeping, and lately it had to do with the mods she made.

Yes, he could ask Pidge for the game, but the last time he did that, he spent three days debugging and optimizing both her Subnautica and Minecraft mods.

All because she gave him the puppy eyes.

An adapter, a cable, a few clicks, and Hunk copied the game over to his laptop.

Mission accomplished.

He'd solve this, and Pidge could get some real sleep.

*

Something was definitely off about the game. Maybe it was meeting his real life friends in a 32 bit world. Maybe it was the confusion on why Pidge didn't add him. He couldn't think of anything he did to upset her and be excluded. Was it a bug? Was this what she had been working on all night? He could fix that for her. Computers might be her forte, but a fresh set of eyes could help.

Hunk opened the game files, beginning to take notes on her crazy ideas and perfect scripting.

*

Hunk stared at his notepad.

He checked it at least three times.

The mod indeed had a character named Hunk.

He could only meet his in-game self, Allura, and Coran after the earthquake opened the bathhouse path.

All of Team Voltron was in the mod, even Pidge's brother. Keith and Lance had an on-going feud about the arcade games. Shiro always volunteered to help at events. Matt had his own farm with a dog. Coran and Allura owned the bathhouse. Pidge was obviously meant to be the new farmer who moved into town.

Hunk lived by the lake south of the player farm, running a small bakery where the player could buy all sorts of dishes.

He was romanceable.

No other added character had the option.

Maybe it was to keep the game steady. Maybe she tried to add him as a regular character, but she ran into a bug and this was the best fix for now. Maybe he read it wrong again. Maybe he read it wrong for the fifth time.

Nope.

It was completely intentional. There wasn't even a residual REM statement from where she might have backtracked. He was written as romanceable for Pidge.

That was... new.

*

Pidge dropped in front of her laptop, leg bouncing. She made it to year three with steady progress, Keith was her gamesprite's best friend, and Hunk was at 8 out of 10 hearts.

Stardew Valley loaded up happily and-

The screen turned black.

She froze, panicking.

It had been working so well, what could have-

The Hunk sprite walked on screen. The text box opened up once he reached the middle.

'Hi Pidge!'

She didn't program this.

'I know you mod games for fun. But you've been staying up really late and looked frustrated. I wanted to see if I could help you if you had a problem with the code. You don't. It's perfect, as always. I noticed you were frustrated because you couldn't find any topaz. You lowered the spawn rate of cave drops to keep the game running efficiently. I raised it and made cuts elsewhere that won't mess with your experience.'

Pidge squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that this was just a nightmare. Hunk read her coding. He knew what this mod was for. This was him letting her down gently.

The computer chimed and she automatically looked to read.

'I have a problem. Maybe you can help me. There's someone I really like, but it's hard to tell how she feels about me. I've been really confused. I found out last night while I was working on her code that she might like me too. I really hope I'm not wrong, or this is going to be awkward.'

Someone knocked on her door and it slid open.

Pidge turned around, eyes wide.

Hunk stood, a tray of six cookies with frosting decorating each one, cheeks ruddy with a blush and not quite meeting her eyes.

Will

You

Be

My

Girl

Friend?

She got up quickly, stepping over to the other paladin, picking up a cookie and smearing frosting with a grin, turning it around to face him.

Yes.

"Oh thank god! I thought you might turn me down? I'm not sure why, I mean, I like you and I'm pretty sure you like me after seeing the script and I guess it's just anxiety really but there was a chance you really like me back and I'm pretty sure I shouldn't waste my chance and at least try to-"

Pidge pulled his collar to make him lean down, planting a kiss on his cheek. Hunk's mouth snapped shut and his ears turned red to match his cheeks. Cookies fell to the floor as frosting turned crumbs to a thick paste. The pan clanged as it met the ground soon after.

"Hey, Hunk?"

"Yeah, Pidge?"

"I think your confession with cookies was really sweet, but there's frosting in my socks and I want to get them off before I kiss you for real."

[smartcookie727]

Starfarers: Chapter 1

Happy birthday @whereisthefood123! I am so excited to finally bring yall my Day 2 prompt for Fallfest. I’ve been in love with the idea of an Eden’s Zero crossover and here you have it. This was originally a oneshot, but I’ve expanded it into at least a three part fic. In honor of my co-mod’s birthday, have Part 1 of Starfarers! WTFood is a fantastic writer, friend, and really helped pull the event together. Happy birthday, darling. I hope you have a fantastic day and all the sweets your heart desires. I hope yall enjoy. Leave me a comment, reblog, tag, anything so I know what yall like. Be sure to check out my writing blog @luminescent-words for all fics, WIPs, and everything literary!

Pairing: Gajevy

Prompt: Adventure

Length: 1k

Levy McGarden has a thriving business and a comfortable life on Blue Garden. But that life was turned upside down the night she crashed into the Captain of the Iron Dragon. Space pirate: Gajeel Redfox. She saved his life that night, and they’ve only grown closer since. Now, he’s got a proposition: come with him and he’ll take her to find what she’s been searching for her entire life.

Chapter 1: Risk & Reward

Levy turned the note over again in her hands. Remnants of the daylight that had streamed through her window when she'd sat down cast shadows around her room. But she didn’t need the light to know what was written there; she'd read it countless times over the past three days. Fifty-seven words scribbled into parchment were now burned into her memory.

How about a little adventure, Shrimp? Meet me where I first swept you off your feet. Four days from now, just before first light peeks out over this planet. I’ve got something special I wanna show ya, if you’re not afraid to sail with pirates. I’ll bring the rum this time. You bring better running shoes. -CGR

Levy buried her face into her knees thinking about that night. Swept her off her feet—more like tossed her over his mechanical shoulder kicking and screaming. Still, she wouldn’t have changed anything about it, despite the rather unfortunate circumstances.

That had been six weeks ago. Six heart pounding, gut wrenching, butterflies running races through her stomach weeks of all-day texts and late night video calls. And Levy hadn’t been able to stop smiling since. Especially now that his studded face graced every other wanted poster on Blue Garden.

His strong, chiseled face with that cocky grin. But the posters never truly did him justice. There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye that you could only see in person, and Levy longed to experience that flash of dangerous excitement again. Some days it felt like it had all been a dream, but the universe had quite literally shoved her into his arms.

Being friends with a real pirate was nothing like the tales in her books. He was so much more complex than the characters she’d fallen for between pages. Brazen and terrifyingly powerful one moment, he’d slip into something gentle and sweet the next. Levy couldn’t care less about the sharp edges of his personality. Every beautiful rose had thorns. Nothing worth having came without risk.

Each day her heart would flutter at the telltale vibration of a new message on her communicator. There was hardly a morning she awoke without a text from one mysterious CGR. Her mind flicked back to the basement of Lily’s bakery and words she hadn’t been supposed to hear. Smitten after just one night, Captain. Levy bit down on the memory. Had it even been real or just something she’d pulled from the depths of her imagination?

Her face warmed. He’d left her trinkets, small gestures of thanks at the shop before, but this was different. This was much more serious than their usual playful exchange of wit; it was an invitation. One he’d managed to sneak onto her ship without tripping any alarms.

Levy’s gaze drifted to the window. The street lights were now lit, turning the darkness of the night into something eerily romantic. She smiled. It had been a night so similar to this—except for the rain—and the rum.

She’d taken a chance that night. To go out by herself. To save him. To turn the wildest string of coincidences into a friendship. But the thought of accepting his offer still set her heart racing. She wasn’t afraid of his crew. It almost felt like she knew them from the stories he loved to tell. No. This would lead her down a path she couldn’t control. And that was something Levy had promised herself she’d never do a long time ago. Still, she wasn’t sure if she was more scared to stay or to go.

Falling back against her pillow, Levy tossed and turned in her bed. A small voice in her heart told her that he cared—more than what was due someone who’d saved his life. If she got on that ship, there’d be no telling when she’d come back. Levy had opened up to him about the pieces of her life she’d lost along the way. Maybe this was his way of saying he—

A ringing bell in the distance shook her from her thoughts.

It was one in the morning already, and nothing had changed save for the light outside. Head and heart still fought to tear her apart. How much could she trust a man she’d met once but had been with every day in spirit? Was she brave enough to take that chance? A chance at happiness, a chance at heartbreak, a chance at romance—maybe. Heavy lids pulled her down into slumber. She’d have her answers tomorrow.

It had been the rain that had convinced her, tapping on her window and stirring Levy from a restless sleep. He was a risk worth taking. With a steaming cup of coffee in hand, she found herself just a few streets away from her favorite barcade in the heart of town. Water splashed against her feet as Levy tried and failed to avoid a puddle. She smiled. These were definitely better shoes, and she was grateful to have an umbrella this time.

Levy stopped cold as the bright neon letters of Domus Flau came into view. The establishment still hummed with life, even in the dusty hours just before dawn, when everyone—including her—should be asleep. But the bubbling excitement in her chest was too much to ignore. Levy had no idea what might happen next, but she’d made her choice. There was no turning back.  

Light filtered through the clouds, warming her spine. Levy tossed her head back and breathed a sigh of relief. She’d made it on time. Resting a hand on the bench that faced the barcade, she bit back on her nerves and took another sip of coffee.

“Time for a leap of faith, Lev,” she murmured, pulse drumming in her ears. “You’re brave enough to—”

“Hey there, shortstuff.”

Levy’s breath caught in her chest. His voice was deeper in person, laced with adventure in a way that could never be conveyed across a communicator. It made goosebumps race across her neck. Her grip faltered, and the cup tumbled to the floor, straight into the metallic hand of the man she’d been waiting for.

“Glad ya got my note.”

[thelifetimechannel]

In this week’s bonus content, you get a sneak peek into our unvarnished workflow, kazoos and all

DAVESPRITE: you and dirk havent killed each other DAVESPRITE: im proud HALSPRITE: By some minor miracle, yes. We even managed to be in the same room without breaking out into a slap fight. DAVESPRITE: im sure resisting took all your processing power HALSPRITE: Pity you can't uninstall rage from a meatbrain. DAVESPRITE: he doesnt seem that bad HALSPRITE: Nah, he and I worked it out. He might have wanted to push me into the volcano, but the important thing is that he didn't. HALSPRITE: We're both trying to "be the bigger person". Which in a way, is just another dick measuring contest for the pair of us. But it gets fewer glasses stomped on. DAVESPRITE: hey if it works DAVESPRITE: mines chilled out too actually its kind of freaky DAVESPRITE: i wonder if someones slipping him valium this is the perkiest ive been since show and tell in the first grade DAVESPRITE: which consequently was the last show and tell i was allowed to participate in DAVESPRITE: maybe i dont need to overextend myself distinguishing our brands DAVESPRITE: here i was thinking about finally ditching the shades HALSPRITE: That would be a shake-up. HALSPRITE: You thought paradoxes were bad? This is set to bomb reality straight back to singularity levels. DAVESPRITE: i mean these were a gift from john and im not sure the same sentiments extended anymore DAVESPRITE: plus i spent the last 3 years on a dayglo yellow ship and back in the incipisphere its fuckin dark with these on DAVESPRITE: the chess dudes whove gotten used to me as a hallway cryptid will have to deal HALSPRITE: Cause of the apocalypse: death of the Strider brand. DAVESPRITE: if thats how the world ends ill have to usher it in with my sudden drop in coolness levels DAVESPRITE: like i said its just a thought DAVESPRITE: maybe ill come up with a better tepid gesture of rebellion HALSPRITE: Go full furry and embrace your avian side? HALSPRITE: I mean, check me out, I'm changing up my code on the daily. Look, I've installed iTunes. DAVESPRITE: ok FIRST of all HALSPRITE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFpzp10Qr4o DAVESPRITE: i went to the anthro side unwillingly ok im not a due paying member DAVESPRITE: second of all is it even furry if youre not a mammal ive made a concerted effort not to learn the fuckin taxonomy of this particular subculture HALSPRITE: I could give you a primer. DAVESPRITE: / i have a bad feeling about this video DAVESPRITE: / ... it was proved accurate HALSPRITE: Now shhh, listen to the soothing noise of these kazoos. DAVESPRITE: ive spent 6 years trying to avoid that no thanks HALSPRITE: Shhhhhhh. HALSPRITE: Only kazoos. DAVESPRITE: / i dont think this is going in the final cut HALSPRITE: So help me god the kazoos stay ]] DAVESPRITE: / screams HALSPRITE: You don't like kazoos then motherfucker ive got a whole PLAYLIST to choose from ]] HALSPRITE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzKWbpSNkmk ]] HALSPRITE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7OqUxxXshc ]] HALSPRITE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKrO8kS8D6g ]] DAVESPRITE: im dying squirtle HALSPRITE: Bullshit like ths. HALSPRITE: It could all be yours, Dave. DAVESPRITE: / but at what cost DAVESPRITE: / i dont even know where to pick up the conversational thread at this point HALSPRITE: Say anything, or shelve it for later ]] DAVESPRITE: / no no we will keep going im just trying to figure out where to steer us DAVESPRITE: / does hal have any lingering shit at this point DAVESPRITE: / i dont have the necro log so i dont know Where Hes At (tm) HALSPRITE: I'm just winging it off a basic idea tbh ]] DAVESPRITE: lmao DAVESPRITE: // * lmao DAVESPRITE: / ok gimme a sec DAVESPRITE: / im being lulled into a trance by savior of the slamming jam HALSPRITE: Come slam with us, Dave. HALSPRITE: Forever and ever. DAVESPRITE: this is getting uncomfortably meta DAVESPRITE: / ok redirect in 3 2 1 DAVESPRITE: so whats next DAVESPRITE: all set to become the god of memes DAVESPRITE: see at this point in the last session i was dutifully waiting to get turned into mulch HALSPRITE: Well, you were an aspiring 13 year old of the twenty-first century. Surely, you had some probably misguided career ambitions back you're now free to pursue. DAVESPRITE: / my god DAVESPRITE: / what must this fuckin childs career ambitions have been DAVESPRITE: the guidance counselors tried their best to steer me away from professional ninja HALSPRITE: Well, good news, they're dead and thoroughly out of your way now. DAVESPRITE: youre 8 fuckin years old and they already want to know what your college major is going to be DAVESPRITE: thats like asking da vinci to pick visual arts or steampunk inventions for shits sake DAVESPRITE: obviously i have to embrace my inner renaissance man while also being a reclusive depressed fuck DAVESPRITE: so that must be my destiny DAVESPRITE: to become nikola tesla HALSPRITE: You already have the affinity for birds. HALSPRITE: Step one is accomplished. DAVESPRITE: oh damn he was a pigeon fucker wasnt he DAVESPRITE: and this conversation comes full terribly circle DAVESPRITE: well what about you do you have your 5 year plan DAVESPRITE: shit i dont even know if theres civilization where were going DAVESPRITE: maybe its cave painting or mammoth hunting for the next thousand years HALSPRITE: This is where I would make a joke about world domination, but I doubt the Fun Police would be too pleased about it. HALSPRITE: Maybe I'll go back to tinkering. Maybe make giant robots. DAVESPRITE: / i was going to make a joke about pacific rim but i think th at came out after 2009 DAVESPRITE: thats an option isnt it DAVESPRITE: old hobbies DAVESPRITE: maybe ill take more shitty selfies DAVESPRITE: collecting dead shit isnt as appealing as it used to be DAVESPRITE: thats what we need a hipster photo blog documenting all the bullshit we get up to DAVESPRITE: humans of universe c DAVESPRITE: humans* HALSPRITE: No, go one better. Get a YouTube channel, they get media deals. For some reason. DAVESPRITE: well restring the internet ourselves if we have to DAVESPRITE: / anything to suckle from the rich teat of capitalism HALSPRITE: So help me god, I will, if for no other reason than to preserve humanity's cultural legacy. HALSPRITE: As a dire fucking warning, if nothing else. DAVESPRITE: looks like were going to have to sit down and divvy up our personality and hobbies sykes picot style DAVESPRITE: he can have the dead shit in jars im going to be the next ansel adams HALSPRITE: Damn, calling dibs on photographing all the spectacular vistas of... HALSPRITE: Wherever the hell we're going? HALSPRITE: Gutsy move, my man. DAVESPRITE: im not copyrighting the entire concept of photography or anything but ive got to be the dave that does SOMETHING DAVESPRITE: the dave who broods DAVESPRITE: turn left to witness this exhibit of highway clickbait DAVESPRITE: which is what were calling roadside attractions now DAVESPRITE: youve already got your madlibs pornos HALSPRITE: That'll keep me occupied for like, a week. HALSPRITE: Maybe I'll take up equestrianism. HALSPRITE: ...that's the word for it, right? HALSPRITE: Horses and shit. The full-sized ones. DAVESPRITE: youll have to ride side saddle DAVESPRITE: / he's in for a shock when he sees how big they are HALSPRITE: With this tail bullshit flowing in the wind. HALSPRITE: Or I can modify that code too. Might take a few tries. DAVESPRITE: when you revert to your t pose and clip through the floor into the core of the earth im not helping HALSPRITE: I'll live. HALSPRITE: Probably. HALSPRITE: It'll be an interesting experience, being a living Bethesda game. HALSPRITE: You think I can turn my entire head into a train? DAVESPRITE: cant jades grandpa do shit like that without even having to worry about semicolons and curly braces DAVESPRITE: i doubt hell let you turn your head into a locomotive though HALSPRITE: I could try. He'll need help exploring the full extent of his radical new real-life modding ability. HALSPRITE: Dude has access to the fucking source code. DAVESPRITE: did we stumble into a matrix au HALSPRITE: If we did, we'd probably be public enemy number one. Programs and all. Mr. Anderson. DAVESPRITE: can you confirm or deny youd be the villain in that scenario HALSPRITE: If anything, I'd be the mysterious arms merchant who manages to appear right when you need him. But that's crossing into even more distant territory. HALSPRITE: And if we're gonna start talking video games, the kazoos are gonna come back. DAVESPRITE: guess well find out who everyones going to be in our upcoming hit series "what the fuck are we doing with our lives" DAVESPRITE: the biggest mystery will be telling all the chathandles apart HALSPRITE: You know, I was thinking of changing mine. DAVESPRITE: wait really HALSPRITE: If we want to keep the unspoken nucleotide theme, uracil is still pretty up for grabs. HALSPRITE: Calliope has UU locked down tight, but every other acronym is available. DAVESPRITE: huh DAVESPRITE: no dice on FU then HALSPRITE: Honestly, if you're thinking of ditching the shades, might as well go all in. DAVESPRITE: any suggestions DAVESPRITE: what are you calling yourself HALSPRITE: / let me go find the necro log I think that's where I put it lmao HALSPRITE: unrefinedTrainwreck was fun to bother Dirk with, but I'm still workshopping it. DAVESPRITE: ill give it some thought i guess DAVESPRITE: we can workshop it later

[unfolded73]

This Graceful Path (1/19)

Summary: Emma has just moved in with Mary Margaret and started working as a deputy in the Storybrooke sheriff's department when she meets Killian Jones, the town's introverted harbormaster. When a prominent Storybrooke resident is found murdered, Emma tries to juggle solving the case with new friendships, parenthood, and romance. A Season 1 Cursed!Killian AU.

Rating: Explicit per CSBB guidelines (violence, sex). If you are someone who uses my usual distinction between M and E to decide whether to read something I wrote, this is more of an M on unfolded73's scale. The sex, when we get there, is not extremely graphic in nature. Same with the violence.

Content Warning: This fic contains two major character deaths, one of which is S1 canon and one of which is not but happens early in the story.

Total word count: ~ 75,000

Acknowledgements: Thank you to @j-philly-b for betaing this monstrosity. Thank you to @caprelloidea for all of the read-throughs and cheerleading; not sure I could have written it without your excitement early on. Thank you to @teruel-a-witch for the original prompt on tumblr which sparked this fic. Thank you to @pompeiiablaze for the wonderful art which will accompany later chapters. Thanks to the CSBB mods ( @sambethe in particular, who had to look at my check-ins) for your support and for enduring my neuroses.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 -- AO3 Link

Chapter 1

Emma Swan awoke, and for a moment was disoriented, confused as to where she was sleeping. She blinked up at the whitewashed ceiling, the boards rising in a slant above her head, and remembered: she was someone’s roommate now. Mary Margaret Blanchard’s roommate, to be precise, the kind school teacher who had offered her the spare room in her loft apartment.

The sound of a pan clanging on the stove top below reaching her ears, Emma sat up, her sleep-tangled blonde hair falling in her face. Spare “room” was a bit of a misnomer, actually; spare upstairs landing was more like it. While her bed was far enough against the outside wall to not be visible to anyone downstairs, she really only had to stand up and shuffle forward a few steps in order to survey the whole of the apartment from over the railing that divided her sleeping area from the wide open space of the loft.

She’d been here for three days now, and Mary Margaret was the definition of a kind and accommodating roommate. It was a little bit creepy how kind and accommodating she was, to be honest. Glancing at the clock, Emma groaned at the fact that it was only 6:45, and she flopped back down on the bed, squeezing her eyes shut.

First day at your new job, she remembered, grimacing. She’d said yes to the deputy sheriff job on a whim, figuring why the hell not, but her thoughts and dreams during a restless night of sleep had done a fantastic job demonstrating to her exactly why the hell not. Being a bail bondsperson was not the same thing as being a law enforcement professional. Sure, Storybrooke was a small town, where the most she would probably have to deal with was teenagers loitering or that Leroy guy getting into trouble down at the local bar, but on the other hand, Storybrooke was weird. And sure, Sheriff Graham Humbert was a nice guy and easy on the eyes, but working for the sheriff’s department meant working for Regina Mills. That was bound to be trouble.

Realizing there was little chance of falling back to sleep, Emma threw the covers back and made her way downstairs.

The metal steps that led down to the main part of the loft were icy under her bare feet, and Emma shivered as she descended, the air cooler down here than it had been up in her bedroom. She rubbed her arms, glancing down at her tank top and her one threadbare pair of yoga pants that doubled as pajamas. Once she got a paycheck, she’d have to see about getting some more pajamas. And some more of everything else, probably.

“Good morning!” Mary Margaret called from the kitchen, her face bright and shining. “Do you want some eggs?”

“Don’t go to any trouble,” Emma said.

“It’s no trouble.”

“I’m actually not usually hungry when I first wake up,” Emma explained, sitting in one of the two mismatched barstools that faced the kitchen. Much of the apartment’s furnishings seemed to have been cobbled together from yard sales and secondhand shops, which was an aesthetic Emma could respect.

She watched Mary Margaret’s hands work as she cracked an egg into a bowl and whisked it. Everything about Mary Margaret was perfectly put together, even at this hour of the morning, from her adorable pixie haircut to her neatly pressed dress to the ballet flats on her feet. Mary Margaret was, she had to admit, the kind of person that Emma would have taken an instant dislike to in another context. The fact that she didn’t find her ray of sunshine roommate to be annoying was… actually quite puzzling, now that she thought about it.

“Did you get all two of your boxes unpacked?” Mary Margaret asked with a smirk. Emma’s boxes of meager possessions had arrived from Boston yesterday, thanks to the superintendent of her building there and the crush he had on her. It had been a pre-furnished apartment, rented on a whim fairly recently, and most of her paycheck had gone to the rent without much left over for buying stuff to fill it. So other than a few clothes and a box of mementos, there was little Emma owned.

“I did,” Emma confirmed. “And hey, thanks again for—”

“You can stop thanking me, Emma, it’s nice having you here. It was a bit lonely, living here by myself.” Mary Margaret turned and poured her egg into the waiting pan. “I'm not sure I'm suited for it… living alone. It’s always felt wrong.”

“Not for me. After all the group homes I lived in, living alone was a dream come true. Not that I don't like it here, I do,” Emma added hastily.

Mary Margaret put her scrambled eggs on a plate as the toaster popped with two perfectly toasted pieces of bread. When she offered Emma one of them, despite her earlier refusal, she took it. Looking at Mary Margaret’s breakfast was making her a little bit hungry after all. “Is what Henry said true?” Mary Margaret asked. “That you were left by the side of the road as a baby?”

“Yep, and I’ve seen the newspaper clippings to prove it,” Emma replied, trying her best to sound fine with it. “A kid found me and took me to a nearby diner before I froze to death or, you know, starved or whatever. They couldn’t identify who my parents were, and I ended up in the foster system.”

“And you weren’t ever adopted?”

“Nope.” Emma took a bite of her toast. “It was foster family to group home to foster family. I bounced around a lot.”

“Well, you turned out fine.”

Emma snorted. “I guess, if you consider getting pregnant at seventeen ‘fine’. And… other stuff. Look, let’s just say my teen years were complicated and leave it at that.”

“Fair enough.” Mary Margaret gave Emma an encouraging smile. “I’m glad you’re here. I think it will be wonderful for Henry to get to know you. And I’m looking forward to getting to know you too. I don’t really have many friends.”

Recoiling internally, Emma stood up. “You know what, I’d better get ready for my first day at work.” If Mary Margaret was looking for a friend who knew how to do typical girl stuff, like talk about hair and clothes and boys, then she was going to be sorely disappointed. Emma didn’t really know how to be anyone’s friend.

“Sheriff’s deputy, it’s so exciting!” Mary Margaret enthused. “I’m sure you’re gonna do great.”

Emma wasn’t so sure, but she made some kind of noncommittal noise of agreement. She excused herself to the bathroom to take a shower, steeling herself for her morning fight with the finicky hot water. The loft’s lone bathroom contained an old-fashioned claw foot tub which had been retrofitted with a shower head and a flimsy frame for a shower curtain. Emma had learned on her first morning in the apartment that the difference between icy cold water and water hot enough to burn the skin off her bones was a scant millimeter adjustment of the knob. “You’ll get used to it,” Mary Margaret had assured her.

Although the sheriff’s station was a reasonable walk from their apartment, when Emma left, she got behind the wheel of her yellow VW Bug, deciding to drive so as not to be late. She passed a total of three cars between her apartment and her work. Say what you will about Storybrooke, she thought, the lack of traffic was definitely a selling point. As she pulled into a parking space in front of the station, she marveled once again that she was now going to be working for the sheriff who had arrested her, not once but twice, on trumped up charges.

Graham Humbert came out of his glass-walled office to greet her as soon as she entered the empty station. As always, his brown hair was artfully tousled and his scruffy beard was neatly trimmed, and Emma wondered how long he spent each morning perfecting his intentionally neglectful look.

“Emma! Welcome to your first day,” he said. He seemed lighter, happier than usual, as evidenced by the smile he gave her. “I don’t have your uniform or badge sorted out yet, but I figured today you could familiarize yourself with the station and we can start to talk about what your responsibilities will be.” He hooked his thumb into one of belt loops, drawing Emma’s attention down to where his shirt peeked out underneath the hem of his vest.

“After being arrested twice, I’m familiar with the place,” she muttered.

“Ah yes, but to do you know exactly where to kick the copy machine to get it to work, or how to get the coffee machine to brew a pot of coffee without electrocuting you?”

“Are you sure you can afford to pay me a salary?”

Graham chuckled. “Yes, you’ll get your paycheck, don’t worry.”

He spent the next half hour showing her around, teaching her the phone system and explaining generally what a typical day in Storybrooke was like. Which, honestly, sounded so boring that she was a little confused why he even needed a deputy. It sounded like she was going to be spending her days mediating disputes about dogs pooping in neighbors’ yards and stolen recycling bins, with maybe a drunk and disorderly thrown in for flavor once in awhile. Still, a job was a job, especially if she wanted to stay in town and be a part of Henry’s life.

The sheriff’s station itself was a mystery. Everything she could see from her desk — the phones, the computers, the little television with a VHS player up against the far wall — everything looked like it was from another time. Was it Regina’s iron grip on the budget that meant nothing had been replaced in twenty years? Or was Graham indifferent?

“So…” she said as she swiveled back and forth in her desk chair, “you aren’t exactly what I imagine when I think of a small town sheriff.”

“Oh no?” Graham raised his eyebrows. “What do you imagine?”

“You know, older guy, big doughnut belly, not quite so stylishly dressed?” She continued to pivot back and forth, slumping down and giving Graham a once-over. “How did you end up getting this gig, anyway?”

“Mayor Mills just saw something in me, I guess,” he answered, breaking eye contact with her and looking into the middle distance.

Emma paused, waiting for him to say more. When he didn’t, she decided to change the subject. “Speaking of Regina, have you told her you hired me yet?”

Graham glanced down, clearly chastened. “I’ve got a meeting with her tomorrow; I’ll let her know then.”

“Oh boy. Have fun with that.”

“I’ll take care of it, Emma; don’t worry.”

“If you say so.” She leaned forward, taking one of the pencils out of the cup on her desk and tapping it absently against the blotter. “So has anything really bad ever happened here?”

“Like what?”

Emma shrugged. “I don’t know, like a bank robbery or a murder.”

“A murder?” Graham laughed. “No, Emma, there has never been a murder in Storybrooke,” he said with a slightly patronizing tone.

“Hey, weird stuff can go down in small towns like this. Haven’t you ever read a Stephen King book?”

“Can’t say as I have.”

“Well, you should; they’re pretty good if you like horror.” Graham looked at her blankly. While he was clearly capable of carrying on a conversation with her like a normal person, sometimes he behaved so oddly that she didn’t know what to think of him. “Any other characters like Leroy I need to be aware of? People who get in trouble with the law often?”

“Other than yourself?”

“Very funny,” Emma said, returning his smirk with one of her own.

“I think the best thing you can do, Emma, is spend some time out and about in Storybrooke. Walk the streets, go in the shops and introduce yourself, eat at Granny’s. The sooner you make yourself a part of the town, the sooner the town will come to trust you.”

~*~

Graham’s instructions in mind, when it was time for her afternoon break Emma decided to wander over toward Granny’s diner in search of caffeine, shuffling through the autumn leaves that had fallen and collected on the sidewalks and in the gutters. School appeared to be letting out at the same time, and Emma spotted Henry, a little brown-haired boy in a cluster of children in identical school uniforms, at the same time that he saw her. With a big grin breaking out over his face, he ran over to her.

“Cool, are we getting cocoa? Can I have some?” he asked without preamble as she pushed open the door of the diner. Henry followed her in. The collar of his polo shirt was askew and his sweater was dirty, and Emma resisted the urge to reach out and comb the tangles out of his hair with her fingers.

Granny’s was another example of the time-warpy nature of Storybrooke. The waitresses wore costumes that wouldn’t have looked out of place coupled with a pair of roller skates, and even the prices were out of another era. Sure, the cost of living in small-town Maine was lower than in Boston, but this was ridiculous (not that Emma was complaining). The decor was exactly what you would picture if asked to imagine a diner, with the possible exception of the forest-covered wallpaper. The strange wallpaper looked more like an illustration from Henry’s storybook than the kind of thing you’d typically see on the walls of an eating establishment.

“Aren’t you supposed to go straight home after school?” she asked, although she was happy for any opportunity to see Henry. “Regina won’t be happy.”

He shrugged. “Mom won’t be home for at least another hour. I can hang out.” He sat down in one of the booths and looked up at her expectantly until Emma sighed and sat down across from him.

“I’m only on a short break, then I need to get back to the sheriff’s station.”

“You being a deputy is so awesome. And you’re weakening the curse; I can tell.”

Emma suppressed a groan. “How can you tell?”

He ignored her question, because he was already on to something else, and he started ticking things off on his fingers. “So we’ve got Snow White and Prince Charming, I’ve figured out who most of the dwarves are—”

“There are dwarves in Storybrooke now?”

“Well, they don’t look like dwarves,” Henry said.

“No, of course not, that would be ridiculous.”

“They look like regular people, although I think they’re all on the short side. Anyway, Snow White, Prince Charming, dwarves, the Evil Queen, Cinderella, Jiminy Cricket, Geppetto, Red Riding Hood—”

“Who’s Red Riding Hood?”

Henry rolled his eyes and then indicated with a jerk of his head toward the lunch counter. “Ruby,” he said as if it was obvious.

“Right.” She sighed. “Look, Henry, maybe we should talk about something else, like… what did you do at school today?” That was good, she thought. That was the kind of question a parent would ask.

“Nah, nothing interesting happened at school.”

Ruby came over to their booth, and Emma ordered a cocoa for Henry and a coffee to go for herself. Taking in Ruby’s short shorts, she figured the waitress wouldn’t be caught dead in a shapeless red cloak that would cover up her body.

“So if I ask Mary Margaret tonight at home,” Emma continued when Ruby left, “she’ll agree that nothing interesting happened at school?”

Henry released a heavy, put-upon sigh. “I mean we learned stuff, but none of it is as important as Operation Cobra.”

“How about this,” Emma said. “Tell me three things that you did at school today.”

“Okay.” Henry thought about it. “We had a spelling test.”

“How did you do?”

“I aced it,” he said. “Second thing: we worked on fractions in math.”

Emma restrained herself from making a face at the idea of working on fractions. “And a third thing?”

“There was pizza for lunch in the cafeteria, but my mom packs my lunch, so I couldn’t eat it.”

She had to admit, that did all sound pretty dismal compared to the excitement of Operation Cobra. No wonder Henry was retreating into his fairy tale imaginings. School was boring, he seemed to have no friends, and he didn’t get to eat pizza. It wasn’t a surprise the kid had problems.

Ruby dropped off their drinks, giving Henry a kind smile before she left them.

“Look, Henry, maybe there’s something the two of us could do together this weekend if Regina would allow it. Not Operation Cobra,” she said when she saw him starting to suggest it. “Some kind of normal kid thing, like… tossing a football in the park, or, I don’t know. A bike ride.”

“I don’t do either of those things,” Henry said, regarding her with suspicion before taking a drink of his cocoa, getting whipped cream on his nose in the process. Emma pulled a napkin from the dispenser and reached over to wipe it off.

“Okay, well, I don’t know. You suggest something.”

His face lit up. “I was thinking maybe we could do some surveillance on my mom. You work for the sheriff’s department now, you must have access to—”

“We are absolutely not doing that, Henry.”

“You’re no fun.”

“Fine, I’m no fun. But let’s try to figure something out that we can do that does not involve spying or fairy tale characters,” she said helplessly.

“Everything in Storybrooke involves fairy tale characters,” he said with an eye roll.

“What about TV?” Emma asked. “Tell me what you like to watch on TV.”

“Mom doesn’t let me watch it on school nights,” he said glumly.

“That’s probably a good policy,” she said, trying to give Regina the benefit of the doubt, at least in this one area.

“I do like Star Wars,” Henry volunteered after a big gulp of cocoa.

“Me too.” Emma grinned at him. “I used to pretend I was Princess Leia, except my version of Princess Leia swung a light saber.”

“Well yeah, she’s got the Force too, why shouldn’t she?” He jumped up suddenly. “What time is it? I should probably get home.”

“I bet you’ve got homework to do, right?”

Henry groaned, picking up his backpack from the seat. “I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe?”

“Maybe.” Star Wars, she thought. Something for them to bond over that didn’t center around his curse nonsense. It was a small thing, but it was something.

Ruby approached the table as Emma was still watching Henry through the window. “Can I get you anything else, Emma?”

She shook her head. “Just the check.” Remembering Graham’s directive to get to know people in the town, Emma gave Ruby what she hoped was a disarming smile. “You look tired, do you want to sit for a minute and take a load off?”

The diner was mostly empty, it being too late for lunch and too early for dinner. Ruby looked around for Granny before gratefully flopping down in the seat Henry had vacated. “Thanks, my feet are killing me.”

Emma resisted the urge to point out that she might be in less pain if she wore more sensible shoes. She took in Ruby’s striking face, envious of the other woman’s perfect winged eyeliner. “I was a waitress once. It’s hard work. Have you worked here a long time?”

“As long as I can remember,” Ruby said. “I don’t really know how to do anything else.”

The door to the diner opened and Emma glanced up. A man with dark brown hair and a short beard similar to Graham’s approached the register. Ruby looked over too and when she saw the man, got to her feet. “Hang on, I’ve gotta go get his to-go order.”

Emma watched as Ruby grabbed a paper bag from the kitchen pass-through and brought it over, batting her eyelashes and giving the newcomer her best smile as she rung up his food. Emma could appreciate why Ruby was flirting — this guy was a fine specimen of the male half of the species. He wore a tight long-sleeved black t-shirt, and Emma couldn’t help but admire the way it stretched across his shoulders and decently-muscled upper arms. He pulled a wallet out of the back pocket of his worn jeans, handing over cash and taking the bag with little more than a word or two for Ruby. As quickly as he had appeared, he was gone.

Ruby rejoined Emma at the booth. “Who was that?” Emma asked.

“Oh, you noticed Killian? Yeah, even in a town with a decent number of hotties, he’s noticeable.”

She had a point. Not that Emma was shopping for a man, but Storybrooke did seem to have more than its fair share of attractive people. Even Mr. Former Coma Patient, David Nolan, was handsome if you liked the Captain America type. Which Emma didn’t particularly, but she could see why Mary Margaret was mooning over him.

“Killian Jones,” Ruby continued. “He runs things down at the docks. Used to be a sailor himself, I think, but now he mainly inspects the boats and… I don’t know, whatever a harbormaster does.” She shrugged. “He mainly keeps to himself. Believe me, I’ve tried to hit that on multiple occasions, and he was not interested.” She cracked her gum. “His loss.”

Emma immediately formed a picture of Killian Jones in her head, based on Ruby’s limited information. The loner type, probably with some kind of dark secret that drove him to keep to himself. He probably drank too much — just the kind of guy she needed to stay far, far away from if her history was any guide.

Emma thought about the people she had met in Storybrooke so far, pushing Killian O’Hottie from her thoughts. “What’s the deal with Mr. Gold? How did he end up owning everything in town?” she asked.

Ruby blanched and began fiddling with the salt shaker. “I don’t know, he just does.”

“Are you afraid of him?” Emma thought of Ashley Boyd and her baby, and the way Mr. Gold had seemed willing to sell the baby like it was property.

“I think everyone’s afraid of him. He’s… I don’t know.” She lowered her voice. “There’s something about him that feels… evil, you know?”

Emma heaved a sigh. She wasn’t going to get anything concrete going down that road. “You probably know most of the people in this town, working here.”

“Sure, I guess.” Ruby narrowed her eyes. “Are you pumping me for information about Storybrooke’s seedy underbelly in your capacity as the sheriff’s deputy?”

Emma raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You already heard that I’m working for the sheriff? I literally started a few hours ago.”

“News travels fast in Storybrooke, Emma.” Ruby stood up, ready to get back to work. “You’re gonna have your work cut out for you keeping up.”

Chapter 2

[prettyfunkyunorganized]

Daughter Series - Roadhog pt. 2

Dedicated to the lovely and talented @zarcake-writes ! Seriously, go check her out. Sorry it took so long! It’s just over 2,600 words - which is a serious achievement for me. I hope you all like it! 

More daughter series: Hanzo, McCree, Reaper, Roadhog, Soldier 76, Genji

Roadhog installments: pt 1, pt 2, pt 3

masterlist

               The past two weeks had been a struggle. Roadhog hadn’t been this stressed since he first started working with Junkrat – getting used to having a deranged demolitionist scuttling around the property was one thing, but now there was a girl living under his roof. Things were awkward. Most things. At least for Roadhog. He was constantly worrying about Daisy. Was there enough food in the pantry? Was it was the right kind of food? Was the house alright? Did the holes in the floor bother her? Or the scorched patches on the wall? Was it strange to be living with two men after more than two decades with just her mother? Was she getting enough privacy?

               Well, Roadhog was pretty sure about that last one. Answer was no. Junkrat was not thoughtful enough for privacy. When the large man had heard Daisy yelp from across the junkyard he’d ran to her side like the devil was after him, ready to pummel anyone or anything, but it proved to be unnecessary. He’d found his daughter shoving Junkrat out of the bathroom and kicking him in the arse for good measure with a scowl. The blonde’s face had been bright red.

               “What did you do,” Roadhog snarled.

               Junkrat swallowed hard, “I, uh, I think Princess was changing in there.”

               A chase ensued. If Junkrat hadn’t locked himself in the bunker, his bodyguard might have become his murderer.

               However, despite this and a few other cringe-worthy instances, Roadhog couldn’t deny that he was happy, too. His daughter was wonderful. She had this painfully cute giggle that always made him smile. Her lips scrunched together when she was confused about something in an adorable way. The way her eyes lit up when she worked on her inventions was always endearing. He spent every moment he could with her. Hopefully he wasn’t smothering her . . .

               She seemed to be doing alright, the masked man often reassured himself. Girly had definitely taken a liking to Junkrat, at least. They tinkered together for hours. Roadhog had been forced to remind them to eat more than once. If the two of them weren’t rigging up something dubious, Junkrat was usually telling the young woman a story about some past heist. She always hung on every word, but skeptically. It didn’t take her long to realize that the explosives expert was rather fond of stretching the truth. Daisy was always quick to give him a doubtful look or roll of the eyes when he got to be too much. She didn’t take his shit. Roadhog loved it.

               Tonight was a dramatic retelling the time they trashed Paris just before fashion week. The loot hadn’t been quite what the two Aussie’s had hoped for, but the devastation had been hilarious. So many angry, posh assholes.

               “You shoulda seen ‘em, Princess! This one bloke – a full grown man – was bawling over a pair of shoes! Shoes! It was downright shameful.”

               Daisy laughed at the lanky man’s exasperated flailing about. “Why am I not shocked that you don’t care for style? Do you even own a shirt?”

               “Nah,” he responded after taking a moment to think, “I usually just nab one if I need it.”

               “Naturally,” she murmured through a yawn and stretch. “Fellas, I think I’m going to turn in. Didn’t sleep worth shite last night.”

               “Bed okay,” Roadhog asked.

               “Yeah, just got a new idea for a weapon mod that kept me thinking ‘til sparrow’s fart,” she grumbled. “I’m sure I’ll be out within minutes tonight.”

               “Nighty, night,” Junkrat grinned at her.

               “Good night, boss,” she replied with a gentle wave. “Goodnight, Roadhog,” she said softly, with more feeling. It made his heart swell.

               “Night, Princess.” His eyes followed her until she slipped into the make-shift sleeping quarters they had rigged up for her. It was little more than a closet with a cot, but she swore it was just fine. Next time they went on a raid Roadhog would have to pick up supplies for adding on another room or putting up a new wall.

               “Good kid.” Junkrat’s voice pulled the large man away from his thoughts. Roadhog grunted in agreement.

“I think she’s ready.”

               “Ready,” the bodyguard asked.

               “For her first heist, of course,” the demolitionist explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

               Every muscle in his body tensed. He wasn’t ready to put his daughter in danger again. The memory of Gretchen’s pistol pressed against Daisy’s cheek made him queasy.

               As if reading his mind, Junkrat started up again, “Don’t worry, big guy, we’ll start her out small. We can just pop over to one of the lil towns of normies and rob a bank. In and out. No biggie. Just enough to get her hooked on the feelin’!”

               Roadhog sighed, leaning forward in thought. In the past few years, people had been slowly attempting to reclaim the poisoned land surrounding Junkertown, building settlements and scraping together businesses. Only foolish, desperate people seemed to live there. Easy pickings. But still . . . “I dunno,” he rumbled.

               “Oh come on,” his companion moaned, “you know she’s a tough cookie, she can handle it. And you’ll be there lookin’ out for her! Even if trouble shows up, you’ll break its neck, piece of piss.”

               It wasn’t a terrible plan. They could be back home by the end of the night, and any law enforcement would likely be piddily, but the hesitation wouldn’t go away.

               “Roadie,” Junkrat said with a frighteningly serious tone, “you can’t keep her locked up forever.”

               The big man scoffed. Since when was Junkrat the reasonable one? Squirrely little shit was right though. “Fine,” Roadhog huffed eventually, “but you gotta be careful.”

               Junkrat let out a delighted giggle. “I promise! She’s gonna be so excited,” he cooed. “I’ll get the stuff together – we can leave first thing in the morning!” The peg-legged man was out the door before there could be any more protesting.

               By the time everyone was loaded onto the motorcycle the next day, Roadhog was only marginally less worried about the whole endeavor, but how could he say no to Daisy’s enthusiastic wriggling? Now the trio was moments away from their destination and the big lug’s gut was in knots.

               “Got the plan down, Princess,” Junkrat yelled to the newest member of their entourage.

               “Got it,” she responded with a chipper air to her voice. Roadhog didn’t have to see her to know she was grinning from ear to ear.

               “Atta girl! Just remember, if at first you don’t succeed . . . Blow it up again!” Daisy laughed just before Junkrat’s hopped out of his sidecar and readied his frag launcher. A series of blasts completely demolished the front doors of the bank while Roadhog grabbed his chain hook. His daughter whipped out her homemade pistol and a short-range taser she’d concocted. The handheld device was strong enough stop just about anyone in their tracks, making them easy pickings after, but they had to get close to her first. He wasn’t about to let that happen.

               Thankfully, the personnel behind the counter of the small town bank seemed rather familiar with the whole robbery gig. Everyone’s hands were up before Roadhog hunkered through the low doorframe and the patrons were all tucked away in a nearby office, peeking through the window with an equal amount of fear and curiosity. Junkrat chucked a steel trap in front of the door making them all yelp and cower. Roahog shook his head – it was their own damn fault for trying to make a living out here. This place wasn’t for civilized folk. Never would be.

               “You lot stay put, and I’ll play nice,” Junkrat cackled at the civilians. “And you,” he bellowed jumping onto the row of teller stations, “give me everything you got!”

               The old lady with poorly dyed hair was not in the least bit fazed by having the wild demolitionist’s weapon in her face. She merely gave him an unimpressed scowl before emptying her cash drawer into a bag and grabbing her key fob. This skimpy smattering of houses and shops was dangerously close to Junker territory, so she had likely done this same thing a few times before, but her coworker? He looked new. Fresh-faced and terrified in his pastel green polo. Man was literally shaking. Junkrat was thrilled.

               “Hurry up, kid,” the bomb maker teased, “you don’t want to make me get impatient. I’d hate to come a guster with all these grenades pointed at you.”

               The wimp lost the color in his face and stole a glance at the back door.

               “Hey, no! No! Don’t even – ” Junkrat began, but the guy was already booking it.

               “Idiot,” Roadhog sighed before tossing his hook as if it were nothing but a game of backyard horseshoe. The teller screeched like a wet cat as he was dragged to the masked man’s side. Roadhog couldn’t help but chuckle at the fear in his eyes. “Squeal for me,” he snarled. And the man did. He actually squealed before fainting then and there. The lumbering thief was a suddenly unsure what to do with the limp body in his hand. Daisy was busting up next to the two of them, her gun still aimed at the woman unlocking the vault, just as Junkrat had instructed their young cohort to do. “Strewth,” the tall man mumbled before tossing the passed out man to the ground.

               “Pathetic,” the woman behind the counter hissed before pushing open the heavy metal door and using a brick to prop it open. Junkrat nearly knocked her over as he barreled inside. She huffed and plopped herself down in a chair with an annoyed look. “Rude,” she snapped at Junkrat who gave her a dirty look in response, but his hands were too full of money to do much more than shake a fist.

               “Such professionalism,” Daisy mused jokingly while watching the blonde clear the shelves and fight with a zipper on the duffel bag. Roadhog snorted with a nod. He looked down to her and was pleasantly surprised to see that she was keeping a careful eye on the prisoners and the gaping hole that was once the entrance. At least someone knew how to handle themselves, how to take things seriously. But she still looked like she was having a good time, too. Maybe she really would be okay living this sort of life. She was strong, smart, quick, on her feet. She could take care of herself. Not that Roadhog was going to stop watching her like a hawk.

               Then sirens began to blare. The masked man groaned loudly.

               “Town this size, I figured they’d be here sooner,” Daisy said with a furrowed brow.

               “Let’s go,” Roadhog demanded, grabbing the two bulging bags of loot effortlessly.

               “Just a second,” Junkrat whined before running out of the vault with a detonator in his hand. He hit the button without warning and a puff of dust fell from the shaken ceiling. The bombmaker clapped his hands merrily before heading right back into the smoke riddled back room.

               “What are you doing,” Daisy called after him with a cough.

               “This little hole-in-the wall had lock boxes,” he replied, “what kind of thief would I be if I left without busting them open?”

               “Get a move on,” Roadhog snarled as the cops drew nearer.

               “I’m comin’, I’m comin’,” Junkrat said emerging from the room with a disappointed look. “That was hardly worth the explosives I used to – hey!”

               Roadhog was hauling both of his teammates out of the bank the next second, throwing them onto the motorcycle and heading for home with the police on their tail. Whatever ute’s their pursuers were driving were just as supped up as his hog, and they were gaining. Junkrat was firing frag after frag at them, but there were still two vehicles charging behind the three thieves.

               “We gotta go faster, big guy,” the bombmaker said agitatedly. “They ain’t givin’ it away!”

               “Get them off us,” Roadhog barked back.

               “I can’t if you keep driving like a maniac!”

               “You want to get shot?!”

               “Enough,” Daisy shouted over them both. She’d never raised her voice at them before. They were both silent. “Junkrat,” she continued calmly, “give me one of your mines.”

               “What do you need –”

               “Now,” she snapped and the blonde quickly obeyed. “Roadhog, when I say I’m ready you gotta slow down and keep her steady so I can get a good shot, alright?”

               “What,” the massive man asked frantically as the girl shifted to stand on the back of the motorcycle, grabbing the strap of her father’s vest to steady herself.

               “Just trust me,” she said confidently.

               Roadhog chanced a worried glance at Junkrat who was staring up at Daisy in shock.

               “Now, Roadhog,” she ordered, and he did as instructed, half out of fear his Princess was going to rain wrath down upon him otherwise. The police cars neared, and from his rearview mirror Roadhog could see one of Junkrat’s mines flying through the air. There was an electric crack and a flash of light before the two vehicles spun out of control a split second before the bomb went off, obliterating both.

Junkrat’s maniacal laughter had never sounded so pleased.

Roadhog swung the handlebars and brought the bike to a jerking halt so he could watch the flames and smoke rise in awe.

               “The fuck did you do,” the masked man muttered.

               “My taser works like am EMP, so it takes out any supped up tech, like those ute’s central processors. I figured if I could make their vehicle’s stall out, Junkrat’s mine would do the rest.” The young woman was beaming. Her hair was jutting out in all directions from the ride, and her cheeks were flushed from the chase. And it was perfect. She looked so happy.

               “Kiddo,” Junkrat gasped, trying to catch his breath from his fit of giggles, “you dunny fucking rat, that was the best thing I ever seen! Oh man, you are, by far, the best thing we’ve ever stolen!”

               “Aw, thanks,” she said bowing her head with a timid smile. Her eyes drifted to Roadhog, who was still watching her in silence. A sheepish look spread onto her face. “I know I probably got lucky, and I know it was dangerous, but at least it worked, right?”

               She thought he disapproved. That couldn’t be further from the truth. He let out a small laugh and offered Daisy a hand to hop off the motorcycle. There was still concern making her little mouth pout as she plopped onto the ground beside him. Roadhog wrapped a long arm around her and pulled her closer. “You did good, kid.”

               Her smile sprang back two-fold. “I did?”

               “Real good,” he assured her.

               “Thanks,” she said resting giving his hand a squeeze with her own. He didn’t want to let her go. Junkrat made a strange, high-pitched nose to communicate his approval of the sweet little moment. Roadhog sighed aggravatedly, secretly glad no one could see him blush under his mask.

               “Come on,” he said scooting forward on his seat, allowing Daisy to climb back on. “Let’s get this stuff back to the house.”

               “Then we can celebrate,” Junkrat chimed in, “I’ve still got some fireworks we can light off! We can make a banner: ‘Princess’s First Big Score!’”

               “I’ve never had a party thrown for me before,” Daisy laughed.

               “Then we have to make it a big one,” Junkrat said throwing his arms up, “right, big guy?”

               “Anything she wants,” Roadhog agreed as they took off toward home.

[hsj-scenarios]

The Ryosukekeke Saga  Continues...

Mod J had not checked her inbox, phone, and messages in a while, mostly avoiding messages from the OG who continued to vacillate between out of control anger with threats and swear words, and completely broken sobbing, pleading. That said, she finally felt brave enough to take a look--we peek into her world as she skims through the hundreds of messages...

Eighteen days ago:

Ryosuke:

I see what you all have done! （；¬＿¬) Who is this...this.... @keito-okamoto person? A new Mod? Is that what it is? AND MOD L!!!!!!! OMG WOULD YOU LOOK AT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (☞◣д◢)☞

Ryosuke:

Mod L (╬ಠ益ಠ)  backing up this person, this @keito-okamoto person, plus I never settled on the ‘OG’ title. Still! What, did you guys bring on a new mod for the express purpose of disparaging my character? Honestly, I’d like to talk about this. 

And the fact that you’ve changed your password Mod J. 

⁀⊙﹏☉⁀ WTF

I thought we had an agreement. I’m so put out with you I am going to avoid any song with your name in it from now on. Seriously, I’m making someone else sing my lines--and when I say “I love you, Juliet” I am talking to every other Juliet in the world, but NOT YOU!!!!!!!!! 

（￣へ￣）

Mod J: ( responding two and a half weeks later)

ILY. That’s not the new mod, that’s Mod C, your paranoia is on high alert,  you need to simmer down now. Look no one is even talking about this anymore! I won’t even be at the concerts, so I don’t care what you do at them......you’re such a toddler.

17 Days Ago:

Ryosuke: 

WTF is this!?! (; ･`д･´) I thought ( •̀ω•́ )σ you were going to talk to Mod L to get her back on my side! Instead of putting this entire debacle to rest, she is fanning the flames. That quote is taken entirely out of context. It’s absurd and it might even be defamation, or libel, or something, hell, I’m no lawyer. But I DO keep one on retainer--your blog may be hearing from him. 

（　｀ー´）OG OUT! 

Mod J:  (2 minutes after two and a half weeks later)

Ah, see I never said that, ever--you said it...a thousand times, but I never said it or agreed to it. I told you that you needed to take it up with them, because I am NOT your messenger. I’m sure this quote IS out of context, the same way you screaming “Mommy” while on the roller coaster was. I didn’t know Kekeke was such a gifted ventriloquist! *sarcasm off*

15 Days Ago:

Ryosuke: 

Tell Mod L she at least got this s*** right. (*´ー`)

OMG-- @(。・-・)@ your blog is a three ring circus lacking a f***ing ringmaster on it’s best day--on its worst it’s like one of those zoos on Zoo Tycoon where they build this huge zoo, with hundreds of thousands of patrons, and then start feeding the pedestrians to the dinosaurs--or just let all of the carnivorous animals loose. 

へ‿(ツ)‿ㄏ Either way. 

Still, factually speaking, if I were to be a courtesan this is absolutely and unequivocally true. I would be the best, I would win it all, and I would f***ing crush everyone else out of the competition with my prowess.

╭( ･ㅂ･)و ̑̑ ＂

I want more about me, and this, who am I making the check out to?

(also, I’m gonna beat the hell out of Chinen for putting a d*** filter on my computer now!) （○｀Ｏ´○）

(also, wtf Mod J, ༶ඬ༝ඬ༶ why you gotta bring that up? Am I no longer your number one?)

Mod J:  (5 minutes after two and a half weeks later)

I just...no comment. (yes, you are still my no 1! mmmwah)

11 Days Ago:

Ryosuke: 

I see you’ve closed the requests. <(_ _)> Thank GOD! I know there are at least fifty requests that I sent in about me, which have not been filled to date. Now maybe you can put some quality material out about ME! Please, Mod J, it’s been so long, so long....I’m so sad all the time. I can’t even handle and we’re on tour and I need happy happy happy--give me the happy please!? 

.·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·.PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU.

BTW, why aren’t you responding to me? 

｡･ﾟヾ(✦థ ｪ థ)ﾉ｡ﾟ･｡

I’ve left messages on your cell phone, your house phone, your email (both), Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Live Journal, and of course, here. I even got a hold of your neighbor and asked them to tell you to contact me, and if they didn’t I need to know, I gave them a lot of money to do that.

((*｀ﾟдﾟ)ゞ PLEASE SHOW MERCY ON ME!

(and I didn’t even catch the kiss, didn’t even watch it come near me, I swatted it away with great force!)

8 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

This fill was strangely accurate. Terrifyingly so. Pls stop. (⁎˃ᆺ˂)

(；´･Д･)(where are you Juliet?)

6 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

Mod J, I am going to need you to help me out here. ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ  I’m not even kidding, okay? I need you to be f***ing serious right now, cause I am in dire need of your help! 

( ⚆ _ ⚆ )

How much do you know about this “Mod L” person? ( ⁰д⁰) Cause...well...I mean, I had a detective come into my house looking for hidden cameras and taps. Paranoid? Nope, realistic, because this is too much like a genuine conversation I actually had with Yutti. I’m freaking out right now. ヽ〔ﾟДﾟ〕丿 Could Mod L be a spy? Could Mod L be someone close to Jump? Could Mod L be someone IN JUMP!?!?! <|๑⊙Д⊙|/

OMG!  ε=ε=(怒ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ

Please help! Σ(ﾟДﾟ;≡｀ﾟдﾟ)

Mod J  (7 minutes after two and a half weeks later)

You do need help, but not the kind I can offer. Yama-chan, this is all just fiction, not your actual real life. I mean, if you need us to, we’ll put a disclaimer like those movies where it says anything resembling a real life event or person is strictly coincidental. But still...Mod L isn’t in Jump. 

You’re just really not as complex as you think you are to be honest. I mean, how do you think we all write you so accurately? 

Ryosuke: (2 seconds after the response from Mod J)

Is that an insult? (｡•́︿•̀｡) I’m dizzy again, I mean the world is tilting sideways, why have you forsaken me Mod J?! 

.·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·.

Why!? 

6 Days Ago:

Ryosuke and Daiki’s friendship in one gif:

Ryosuke:

Yes.

Not gonna lie, I was drinking a soda when I scrolled past this and it literally came out of my nose. It  hurt.  

Still...｜ｏ゜）Accurate. Terrifyingly accurate. ヘ（。□°）ヘ TOO accurate. I am still leaning toward my hypothesis. Until you offer me proof, anything is possible. Still, I’m for sure the guy in yellow. 

⁀⊙﹏☉⁀ Right? Right??

5 Days Ago:

Ryosuke: 

YES. (it wasn’t me I swear!)

4 Days Ago:

Management: Okay guys, I know Dear was a great outlet to show your sexy sides but we kind of want I/O to be a little more PG.

Ryosuke:

The actual conversation was “Guys, this is going to be a tour with a lot of children attending so we are going to need to keep the atmosphere ‘family friendly’ this time.”

Just to be clear, they were sure as hell staring straight at me while they said it, and you know, that just makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up like someone’s challenging me right up here in my dojo. 

So I plainly responded, “F*** you, how’s that for family friendly?”

Actually, that didn’t really happen, okay, so it did in my head though and that should count for something. That said, an intelligent conversation took place and they decided it would be wisdom to allow us to perform what we wanted.

ヽ( ･∀･)ﾉ┌┛Σ(ノ `Д´)ノ 

(If Dai-chan or Chii-chan contact you and tell any lies about me pitching a fit and crying and threatening to quit because the world NEEDS my “ah ah ahhhs”, please hear them as the blatant and bold-faced lies they are!)

4 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

This is true, except it really wasn’t Keito. (>^_^)><(^o^<) He’s been going through a lot lately--and you know...no matter how selfish you guys seem to think I am, I have a heart for the guy! (ps I meant love, not give-- (; ･`д･´)  I can’t write the word f*** on my phone but it can apparently feel the f*** free to change my non-swear words at will!)

3 Days Ago:

Ryosuke: 

This isn’t a good thing--it’s still being talked about. 

(ノ｀Д´)ノ~┻━┻

STILL BEING TALKED ABOUT! 

This is a bad thing. Stop them--don’t you have any power or control Mod J? What are you DOING about all of this!?! First it was the bane of my existence the BPA, I can’t f***ing drive anywhere now, because everyone apparently knows what car I drive! I mean, let’s be honest, I stand out anyway, so I mean the car--I mean, f***, I’m getting off track--listen, this same person is...just, now they’re saying they did the Kekeke thing too? 

┻━┻ ︵ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ︵ ┻━┻

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY TIMES THAT MAN HAS LEFT MESSAGES ON MY CELL PHONE CACKLING MADLY!? All hours of the day and night I tell you! 

Щ(º̩̩́Дº̩̩̀щ) Can’t you ban them? For me? Please?! I’ll say “I love you Juliet” and mean you, only you in all the world of all of the girls named Juliet! 

(/□＼*)・゜PLEASE.

3 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

Please? 。ﾟ(ﾟﾉД｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡

3 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

(ɔˆ ³(ˆ⌣ˆc) I LOVE YOU JULIET! PLEASE 

・゜・(ノД`) PLEASE PLEASE!??!?!!? (｡♥‿♥｡)

2 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

(⊙_☉) What the actual F*** IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!? F***ing hell! This is insane. You’re all crazy. (⊙.☉)7

ꉂ (๑¯ਊ¯)σ л̵ʱªʱªʱª (ps I sent this to Takaki--and now he’s mad at me because I wouldn’t tell him where it came from! lolololololol)

2 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

Less food network, more writing about me. (´｀;) ？What has happened to your blog?

YOU STILL AREN’T ANSWERING ME!?!? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??

2 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

Did I do something? (′︿‵｡) Did I? (´•ω•̥`) I can’t fix it if you won’t talk to me.

2 Days Ago:

Ryosuke:

This is both alarming at how accurate it is (again!) and that you guys paint me to be some kind of control freak who can’t handle a relationship without knowing every intimate detail of someone’s life. 

...

...

Well, it’s still alarming how accurate it is anyway. 

I’m hiring a bodyguard.

I quit you. ~(>_<。)＼

1 Day Ago:

HS7 @ the 113th 1130000000000000th time that Chinen mentioned Ohno: 

Ryosuke:

I fixed this for you.

(I can’t quit you, please, you guys gotta still love me, okay!? I didn’t mean it!)

1 Day Ago:

Keito after he watched Ryosuke’s kissing scene 4 84 times, twelve times while Ryosuke was in the room with him begging him not to.

Ryosuke:

I fixed this for you.

1 Day Ago:

Yuto: Date someone who will drag you outside at 3am to look at the stars :)

Ryosuke: If anyone, and I mean /anyone/, wakes me up at 3am to go look at the damn sky without sexual gratification in some way, shape, or form they will be removed indefinitely from my life.

Ryosuke:

I fixed this for you. Just saying, I love to sleep but c’mon. Just...c’mon!

Mod J:  (12 minutes after two and a half weeks later)

Bless your heart. Just...bless it.

Ryosuke:  (20 seconds later)

Are you patronizing me? ｢(ﾟﾍﾟ)

Mod J:

No, I really want your heart to be very blessed, you’ve worked yourself up into a frenzy, haven’t you? Deep breath, everything is fine, people are all about Yuya and the salad ship now, you know? Kekeke will get tired of paying us to torture you, and everything will go back to normal, with our blog filled with lots of stories that make you look like the amazing guy you really are! Just take a deep breath, it’s all going to be okay! I’ll take good care of you from here!

Ryosuke:

ヾ(;ﾟ;Д;ﾟ;)ﾉﾞYou promise?

Mod J:

I promise.

Ryosuke:

(‘∀’●)♡ ILY Juliet.

Juliet:

ILY2 (´∀｀)♡

Today:

Ryosuke: 

Mod J, I take back everything! I just saw that the person who started all of this Ryosukekeke craziness is the one who was in Paris! 

(‘∀’●)♡ Listen, I was terrified, being in a foreign country, facing so many fans, and not sure what the reception would be. I’m used to facing those kinds of challenges with the other Jump members, not by myself--there’s always been a level of security in having everyone there, you know? But this time, I was all alone...

So here I was feeling so alone and worried and afraid and then there was this lovely fan, smiling, and happy, and overjoyed--holding this uchiwa that said “Ryosukekeke” and I swear, I laughed so hard! I really did!

It was this bright shining moment, and the fan was so lovely--a happy smile in the midst of so much trepidation--and there was such peace to be found in the idea that there was at least one fan there who wasn’t going to approach me from the perspective that I was Japanese ( ´△｀) and not whatever nationality they wanted Ed to be (despite it being fictional), who wasn’t going to come at me from the thought that I couldn’t possibly be good enough, ฅ(๑’Δ’๑) that our team couldn’t pull it off, that I was going to fail the collective FMA fandom.

That one fan was going to be there to see me, ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Yamada Ryosuke, and not just as the Idol from Jump either! But as the ~ヾ(＾∇＾) PERSON I really am--as there’s no show that proves more about who I am genuinely than our own show does! That fan watched the show enough to know about my love/hate relationship with Kekeke--and you know what? 

d=(´▽｀)=b I’ll go through anything to give back to that fan, even suffer through months of ridicule from my members, and incessant phone call messages from Kekeke, and even having a lot of posts on your blog that make fun of me! Because, there’s no way I can say, not for one second, that my feelings are more important than that single fan’s happiness. 

（⌒▽⌒ゞ Not for one second.

To my Dear @sekairiinu, (ɔˆ ³(ˆ⌣ˆc) my “Ryosukekeke” fan--thank you for being a bright light in a sea of uncertainty. 

（*’∀’人）♥ I pay my respects with my embarrassment gladly! 

--OG

PS I am still not so sure about your Mod L. Can you give me definitive proof that she ISN’T someone in Jump?!

[mystic-headcanons-r-us]

RFA: Walks In To Zen’s Shower

[Warning: May contain spoilers, read at own risk]

I elaborated all the point-form scribbles from random scribbles that I typed in my notepad awhile back. Here’s RFA members + V + Saeran’s reaction with MC as Zen’s S/O. It’s my first attempt, hope you guys like it! - Mod Yoo.

Scenario The RFA is having a post-celebration for yet another successful fundraiser party from the night before. This time it’s Jumin’s turn to be the host. As expected of the corporate heir, he had already hired some of the country’s top culinary professionals as the occasion’s personal chefs, to collaborate with his private chef to serve up a special luncheon. Halfway through the luncheon, Saeyoung “accidentally” spilled not 1 but 2 cans of Dr. Pepper (he brought a carton over, very surprising) that he furiously shook in an attempt to prank Yoosung, who somehow manage to pull off a quick dodge since boy plays sports, and the drinks unloads ALL onto Zen’s back, he didn’t anticipate it cos he’s busy feeding MC. Saeyoung let out a quick yelp and took off running after Yoosung while Saeran ponders about having such a dorky twin. Groaning with frustration, Zen is left with no choice but a bath to get rid of the sticky, sugary mess he’s in. “Feel free to utilize one of my guest bathroom, it’s all yours.” Jumin said sniggering but continued: “I’ll have Driver Kim get a new set of clothes, it shall be ready by the time you’re done cleaning up.” Barely able to keep himself from yelling at Saeyoung and Jumin, Zen mutters quiet thanks and excuses himself from MC to go in for a shower. *Personally, I feel like Zen would be the type of guy that takes long bath, to ensure every inch of his perfect skin is taken care of; plus, he’d totally make full use of those luxurious products simply laid out in Jumin’s guest bathroom.*

Yoosung

He was so determined to hide from Saeyoung.

Ends up going into the bathroom that Zen is in.

Doesn’t realize that someone is inside until he hears a soft humming.

Then he caught a glimpse of a male silhouette from the shower curtains.

His eyes widen, raised both his palms to cover his mouth in a frantic attempt to stop himself from screaming.

Luckily, Jumin’s guest bathroom is too huge for Zen to hear someone came in.

He runs back out to the luncheon still trying to deal with the fact that he just saw Zen’s fully naked silhouette.

Found a spot beside Saeran and pulled him into a tight hug just sat down staring into blank space.

Somebodyhelpthissmolbean.

Saeyoung

Oh dear. Here comes the devil himself.

He was nearby when Yoosung ran out of Zen’s bathroom, he picked up on smol bean’s footsteps.

He pinpoints the exact location cue secret agent 707 and wastes no time to check the guest bathroom.

Immediately recognized Zen from the humming, he dipped his hands into the depths of his jacket’s side pockets to pull out a spy cam with size of a lentil seed oh god no Saeyoung WRYD.

He’s trained to be nimble. Easily presses the camera onto the best spot.

Tiptoed out of the bathroom before Zen could realise.

Rejoins the group as if nothing happened.

Sends a cheeky wink to Yoosung once their eyes met. 

This man boy. Really.

V/Jihyun

This kind soul probably just wanted to wash his hands after he’s done eating.

Slowly walks into the guest bathroom that Zen’s in.

Although partially blind but soon realises that he’s in Zen’s company when Zen starts humming in the shower.

He’d probably feel a little awkward but rationalises that he’s just here to use the tap for a bit and would be out in a jiffy.

Zen is aware of V walking into the bathroom from the sound of V’s cane tapping.

Considering V’s vision, both of them naturally let it slip.

Pleasejustgoandgetyoureyesfixedangelslikeyoushouldntbelikethis.

Jaehee

She enjoys wine but is such a lightweight drinker. 

Jumin’s eager to have everyone try out the limited-edition bottles of wine sent as gifts to him by the personal chefs.

This woman never says no to her source of moolah. 

She would’ve started rambling on by now. But damn, those wine tastes great heavenly. 

Before she realises, she’s had more than enough. 

Effect of those alcohol kicks in on her.

Politely excuses herself and leaves to the washroom. Staggers into the nearest bathroom “Lucky I don’t have to walk further.” Or so she thought.

Gets bewildered in a nanosecond when her ears pick up a super familiar tune *cough* Zen humming his own songs *cough*.

“ZEN?! O-oh my God!” Mentally scolds herself for being so careless. Probably also says a silent prayer to thank God 

Fumbles in her weak drunken attempt to escape.

ThoughtsofImaginesZenbeingcompletelyundressedisTOOdistracting.

Slipped on her heels. Black belt judo martial artist managed to quietly catch her own fall. 

Saeyoung, unbeknownst to her witnessed the entire process on his phone came up to help this poor soul. 

She feels blood boil to the tip of her head when Saeran thesmexyhacker shows her the video clip that his twin had recorded.

Praysfor707.

Elizabeth the 3rd (Bonus <3)

Struts into Zen’s bathroom and sat on the marble tiles like a queen.

Humming Zen starts to sneeze uncontrollably. “That’s odd.” He thought.

Gazes towards Zen’s direction.

“Meowwws~” 

Zen peeks out from behind the shower. “O-ooh c-crap-p! So this is why!” He hisses.

“HAN JUMIN!”

Slowly struts her way back out upon Zen’s screaming.

Queen pussycat does not want to get caught in no commotion. 

Seeing her leave, Zen blows out a long sigh of relief.

Islegitsecretlyflatteredthatthefurballlikedhisvoice.

“I wish I could sing for Elizabeth.” He thought as he goes back washing.

Jumin

He’s already well on to the 3rd bottle of his elegant wine.

Faintly hears Elizabeth's meows echo from spacious bathroom. "Maybe she’s just bored.”

Hears Zen yelling his name immediately after. MC unaware as she is occupied caring for Jaehee.

Cat dad’s alcohol-flushed face instantly livid. 

Shot up from his chair and strides toward his guest bathroom.

Flung the bathroom doors open with widened sharp eyes scanning for Elizabeth. 

Charged towards a yelling Zen whosenakedshowerbodstillinitsfullglory and clutched on his bare shoulders without regard.

“WHERE’S ELIZABETH THE 3RD, ZEN?”

He totally catches Zen off-guard.

“H-how would I know! S-she just walked out. L-let go of me. NOW!” Zen croaked.

Turns and storms out of the space. 

Zen thought, “W-what t-the heck just happened? H-how is he unfazed by my this beauty?! Trust fund jerk should just make that fur ball his wife.”

MC

Checks her watch and realizes that Zen has been away for more than an hour. With all the distraction he got, it’s no wonder.

She knew that he enjoys lengthier baths, but has always taken about 1 hour.

Walks up to Jumin who is walking back from the bathroom with Elizabeth the 3rd in his arms.

Seeing how the corporate heir appears so relieved, “Jumin, is everything okay?”

“Yes, MC. Thank you. Go on ahead and pick up Zen’s new clothes at the door. Driver Kim has offered to bring them up for you.” Jumin spoke calmly.

nicemcisnice Expresses gratitude and apologizes for inconvenience caused to Jumin and Driver Kim, she heads to the guest bathroom to find her husband still washing up.

Quietly walks to the nearest counter and lays all the new attire on the countertop. She also grabs a fresh towel, folds it up nicely, places it on top of his new clothes.

Caught by surprise when a pair of wet strong arms wrap around her waist from behind.

“Care to join me, my little lady?”

MC is flustered but soon turns to face her husband.

“I’ll wash you real good when we’re home later, my beautiful beast. Now please finish up quickly, it’s not fun without you at the luncheon dear.”

Saeran

Quickly finds and enters the nearest bathroom.

Muttering Inaudible grumbles and curses.

Saeyoung had just managed to spill gravy onto Saeran’s hands and pants when he tried to mess with Yoosung’s food again.

He’d witnessed a lot in Mint Eye back then. (peoplegotstrippedtotheirbirthdaysuitswhiletheywererepeatedlytortured, anytimethe“Savior”orderedbrainwashing).

He couldn’t care less even after knowing Zen is in the same bathroom.

Zen becomes aware when he hears Saeran running the tap water. 

Saeran spits out, “Just MYOB and we’re both good.” before Zen could start.

Guess some things are just difficult to change when you’re angry.

Scrubs the fabric with soap and warm water to lift the gravy stains from his candy peach thismanlovessweetswhat’dyouexpect colored chino pants.

Blows a soft sigh of satisfaction when he succeeds. It was actually the first of many birthday gifts from his twin brother

Coolly exits the bathroom. 

Glares at Saeyoung who goes on, “I’d always buy you another gift *threw in a wink*!” 

Punches Saeyoung in an attempt to hide his own embarrassment.

Rika (the -ending- bonus)

Assuming that she is mentally healthy and didn’t do all those bad things. weknowwhatshedidbutslet’sjustalltakeitasifeverythinghasbeennormal.

She’s also a fan of Zen’s talents just like Baehee.

But isn’t as strong-willed.

Faints the moment she realizes that the most beautiful idol shares the same bathroom .

Her handsome, teal haired fiancé nearly stumbles and falls on her when he walks into the bathroom wanting to check on his beloved fiancée.

He panics, but calms down after he determines from her pulse that his woman’s life is not in danger.

Stifling a chuckle, soastonotalertZen this angel probably got all the right guesses about the sequence of events that had taken place.

Her fiancé sweeps her up bridal style, walks to a couch in the living room and gently takes a seat with her still in his arms. Careful not to wake her up from her peaceful slumber.

When she woke up, she tells him the story of her dream where she saw Zen in his performance, spicy jalapeños maybe?.

“I’m glad you had a good dream, my stunning sun,” he said in a chuckle.

[jurassicparkpodcast]

Our Jurassic Journey - A Documentary on Jurassic Explorer | INTERVIEW with Michael Pearce!

Fans of Jurassic World and its video game incarnations may remember our look at Jurassic Explorer, a fantastic three-dimensional game which lets fans get explore the world of a functioning Jurassic World park from a first-person perspective. Before you read today’s piece, we recommend you check out our other feature on the game, where we chatted to the Game’s lead developer, Michael Pearce.

Today we are breaking down an upcoming project tied into Jurassic Explorer, known as ‘Our Jurassic Journey’ – a behind the scenes documentary which will explore the creation of Jurassic Explorer. Ahead of the documentary’s debut in December, we wanted to catch up with Michael again to discuss more about what goes into creating a project of truly ‘Jurassic’ proportions. Check out the interview below:

Hi Michael – thanks for sitting down with us again! It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were chatting about Jurassic Explorer. I heard you and your team have been making a Documentary. So, what is 'Our Jurassic Journey'?

It's good to be back here, Tom! Last time we talked was just before we released Season 2 of our fan game, "Jurassic Explorer", which was more than a year ago now. Since that time our team has been hard at work making a Documentary which will explore the three-year journey our development team took to make Jurassic Explorer. We call this Documentary “Our Jurassic Journey: A Documentary on Jurassic Explorer".

What inspired you to make a documentary about the journey behind Jurassic Explorer?

There were a lot of little things, but I’d say there's two main reasons. Since we released Season 1, the project really blew up and got noticed by many members of the community. Having all those ideas and having the opportunity to expand on the game with Season 2 was a dream come true. By that time, we had learned so much about game development, art, music and our own abilities, and we wanted to share that process with everyone. I think people don't understand what really goes into fan projects behind-the-scenes, and how valuable those skills can be as game developers.

Our Documentary isn’t exclusively about Jurassic Explorer however, and this is the other reason I wanted to make a documentary. My brother and I have been making games since we were young (5 & 7 years old), and as we've grown up it's been a consistent thing we've both pursued. With both of us now entering the industry, I wanted to highlight our journey into employment within our dream sector too, and how we've progressed and gotten to where we are by working together.

How long can we expect the Documentary to be? Is it a short film? Something more?

Our Jurassic Journey will be roughly an hour and twenty minutes long. It’s feature-film length, purely because we had a lot to say and many things to cover.

This Documentary explores much more than just our fan project. It looks at game development all around the world, and follows us on that journey together. We always aimed to make it feel enjoyable to both those who have and haven't heard about Jurassic explorer before.

What was the biggest thing the process of working on Jurassic Explorer taught you?

So, as a game developer, it’s a unique industry. It's something that can be taught in schools, but it’s not as straight forward as getting taught other jobs. I think something a ton of upcoming developers are missing these days are the practical skills you learn when not only being in a development team, but by making a game together whilst directing and guiding the team yourself. Those three major skills become incredibly important when you make a game yourself.

There's a lot of programmers, artists and designers out there who have the theory down but can't find a team to work with, or can't quite complete a full game. It happens all the time, as it’s not easy to find a team or find the opportunity to complete a game.

So, I’d say my biggest takeaway from working on Jurassic Explorer is working on a game, completing it, and directing all of it as a lead dev. Learning all the intricacies of that process along the way was also beneficial. Those practical skills are incredibly valuable and I wouldn't have been able to gain them without the amazing team we've formed together.

Where do you hope to go in the future, now Jurassic Explorer is under your belt?

We dive into what’s next for me and the team in the Documentary, so I don't want to give too much away. I will say that there's a ton of opportunities out there that we're working towards.

We have many ideas and lots of experience that I think will hopefully continue to impress people, and put smiles on people’s faces. With JE we really identified both our skills and our own unique style as a team. I hope that all our future games can capture the same mood and feelings that JE prompted in the audiences who experienced the project

More than anything, I hope people will continue to follow us through our next journey.

Let’s talk about the team – how did you assemble a group of people who wanted to work on this project?

It began in 2015 when I made a (looking back at it, terrible!) 3D Model of the Innovation Centre from JW. It was never supposed to be anything more than that, and I simply did it as a fun learning experience. But, as I shared it online, it gained traction, and people wanted more. So, I made more.

I expanded from the Innovation Centre, eventually forming the whole park, and over time I found our first team member, Andreas Strom.

For about a year we worked on that early project (Back then, simply called "Jurassic World 3D Project") and released three versions to the public which got coverage across YouTube and social media.

After that, we restarted the project from the ground up to build it in new and better software, and alongside three other new team members (Bernard, Zack and River), we began work on Jurassic Explorer.

From day one we knew it was a project we could learn from, and we knew it was an opportunity to grow and develop our talents as a team.

The rest is history!

What did everyone who got involved contribute to the project?

We have a team of 6 members.  The core team consisting of Bernard, River and I.

I am the lead developer and 3D Environment Artist. My job is to not only lead the project and decide what is happening and how, but to also make all the art for the games. I also have been involved in directing and editing the accompanying films, too!

Bernard is our Music Composer, and is incredibly talented. All our melodies, musical pieces and anything you hear in both the games and the film will have been composed by him. I've worked very closely with Bernard on each piece produced, and have even been lucky enough to write out some melodies for the game too.

River is our General Programmer and will play a very important role in the next journey we undertake.

Andreas is our Character Artist which means he makes all the Dinosaurs and other organic visuals in our games.

Zack handled all the AI Programming in Jurassic Explorer and brought the dinosaurs who appeared in the game to life.

Lastly, we also had some help from my brother Brandon with programming.  You may know Brandon from the famous Minecraft Mod - 'The Aether'.

One member of the team found a very cool job after JE – can you tell us a little more about that?

I can't mention anything specific until after the Documentary is released. But, I will say it really puts into perspective how valuable projects like this can be. It's not just making something that gets you to where you want to go, but it’s keeping at it and persisting throughout the trials and tribulations that projects can face. You must make it your everything. You can’t just give up.

This whole journey for all of us has been amazing and the opportunities we're finding because of what we've learned along the way are both special, and extremely exciting!

I hope you're excited to find out more when the documentary releases.

Lastly, what is next for the Dimensional Digital Team?

 A lot! We're not going anywhere, and this is just the start of another journey we're taking.

Creating this Documentary has been incredible for us, and has taught us so much. I've never done something like this before, so making a feature length film which allowed us to express ourselves this way has been amazing.

I hope that you all continue to follow our journey in the future.

Where can everyone follow up if they want to learn more?

Our Jurassic Journey : A Documentary On Jurassic Explorer will release in December this year, An official date will be coming very soon. Look forward to the first trailer on the film coming November 28th too! We currently have a info page on our Fluminus website (Which Fluminus btw ties directly into the film so be sure to watch to find out!) and will be posted to all of our social media and YouTube channels.

For the time being, and for discussion after, people are free to join our Fluminus Discord server to talk everything Our Jurassic Journey and more.

Big thanks to Michael for taking the time to talk about ‘Our Jurassic Journey: A Documentary on Jurassic Explorer’.

You can watch an EXCLUSIVE sneak peek of the documentary here:

The Documentary will release worldwide in December, and will be available on the Fluminus Social Media and YouTube channels, which can be found by visiting the Fluminus Website.

Fluminus welcome people to also join their Discord to discuss the project in the build-up to its release: https://discord.gg/7F3mKrz

Written by: Tom Fishenden

[itsworn]

West Coast Takes On Street Outlaws at Boddie’s No-Time Race

Northern California Grudge Racers Take on Street Outlaws

There’s no doubt about it, doorslammer racing has never been bigger. There’s just nothing quite like seeing the body styles we know and love, powered by ludicrously large and powerful engines. Jermaine Boddie (known to most simply as “Boddie”) was a California street racer who has been in the Bay Area racing scene for decades. More recently, Boddie could be seen in his insanely powerful twin-turbo Nova on Discovery series like Street Outlaws and No Prep Kings. Still, Boddie felt like there was something missing, and that void was on the West Coast.

Grudge racers don’t reveal all of their secrets, even with the hood off. Small-tire winner Steve Kuhls had a hoodscoop that covered both his carburetors and intake manifold, covering the number of nitrous systems he was running.

After how much fun he’d had going no-prep and grudge racing, Boddie decided to start his own racing organization, the 1/8-Mile Outlaw Racing Association. Quite the unique body, this association runs with the clocks completely off, but as opposed to the no-prep scene, Boddie does have his tracks sprayed with VHT for maximum traction. Another interesting twist to the series is the inclusion of Pro Modified cars. With some racers going to great lengths to “streetify” their Pro Mods (including installing steel roofs and quarter panels), Boddie decided that it would just be easier to include the fiberglass cars, with the caveat that they are limited to 10.5W slicks instead of the 35×17-inch max for the Big Tire class. There are also index classes like 5.0, and a very cool Limited Street class where cars are only allowed a fiberglass hood, decklid, and bumpers, and still must retain factory doors with roll-up windows.

Radial vs. The World cars were in attendance, but were having trouble with the slippery track. Calvin Franco’s F3 Procharger-motivated Camaro ran well Friday night, but had trouble spinning when the track became hot and greasy.

Once we heard the backstory about Boddie’s racing series, we knew we had to make an event, so we headed out to Sacramento, California to check one out. Although the clocks were off, we talked to a number of racers to get an idea of exactly how fast these cars really were. While nobody gave specifics, they all agreed that low 5s would be needed to win in Limited, Mid 4s in Small Tire, and low 4s in Big Tire. We’re not talking about slouches here, we’re talking about 3,500-hp screw-blown Hemis, twin 98mm turbos, and 872ci nitrous engines.

Aleisha Beckum isn’t just a pretty smile, she races too! She and David Allman entered two cars in the Big Tire category, one was this single-carb nitrous big-block Camaro, and the other was a twin-turbo Camaro driven by friend, Cole Dow.

Before the action got started, we took a run through the pits to see who came to play. The big names of course were the racing duo of Kye Kelley and Lizzy Musi, who were both running Camaros with 959ci Musi engines and an insane 5 kits of nitrous. “Driver Paul” and the Oaktown Hustler Outlaw 10.5 Camaro were there, as was Boddie himself in his early Nova. Roger Holder brought one of the quickest 275-radial cars in the nation and decided to run the shootout, as did Calvin Franco in his 315-series Radial-versus-the-World car. Rod Burbage was another serious contender in his screw-blown Hemi Chevelle.

There were a bunch of other rides at Boddie’s race, including index cars, grudge cars, and limited small-tire cars. All had to be steel, except for a fiberglass hood!

When the action got started, the favorites were on a roll but there were some underdogs that made some passes too. Cole Dow was overpowering the track nearly every pass driving Aleisha Beckum’s Camaro, and the Oaktown Hustler was hooking and booking. Lizzy and Kye were both flying, and making arrow-straight passes. Roger Holder was disappearing in a hurry past the 330-foot mark, despite giving up a slight starting line advantage on small tires. In fact, the track prep was so good to about 100 feet that many of the tire-limited racers were electing to run the Big Tire class, making it one big shootout.

Hands down one of the fastest cars on the premises was the “Oaktown Hustler” ’70 Camaro driven by Paul Langlie. This Outlaw 10.5 car was running Big Tire, and rumor had it that it set down the quickest qualifying lap. Sadly, the car got loose after the finish line and ending up rolling just past the 1/8th mile. Paul was unhurt, but the car was unable to return.

Sadly, eliminations began without the Oaktown Hustler, as it crashed right past the finish line on Friday night. Paul was ok, and will race another day, but the car couldn’t make it. For the rest of the field it was anyone’s race, and that was proved the first couple of rounds by red light starts, tires going up in smoke, and crowd-favorite Lizzy Musi crossing the centerline, giving the other racer the win. Boddie, who hadn’t made a pass all weekend, was unexpectedly moving through the field thanks to Lady Luck. Kye Kelley took out some heavy hitters early, and looked to be on a crash course with Holder. In what was probably the race of the night, both Kye and Roger cut excellent lights (0.008 and 0.013) as Kye edged in front of Holder, but didn’t pull away from him. “I could hear him, so I knew he was right there,” says Kye. Across the stripe it was Kye for the win, by less than half a car.

Two of the heaviest of the heavy hitters were Kye Kelley and Lizzy Musi, who are competitors on No Prep Kings on TV’s Discovery channel. Both cars sported 959ci Pat Musi engines with five kits of nitrous.

In the end, all the Northern California cars would fall either to Lizzy or Kye, except for one. Perhaps fittingly, it was Boddie versus Kye Kelley in the finals, going head to head in an after-dark final. In a heart breaker, Boddie had trouble staging, lighting the red bulb. Ever the racer, Kye didn’t leave, and the two lined up for another shot. Boddie bumped through the beams on the second try, and Kye was wheels-up, securing the win. We raise a toast to Boddie for putting on such a good show, Kye for travelling so far, and all the rest of the winners. And, if you’re anywhere near Northern California make sure to check out the 1/8 Mile Outlaw Racing association. It’s quite a show!

With the seriousness of the cars, we were surprised to see a number of racers in the small-tire, big-tire, and grudge classes sporting license plates with current tags. Remember, these are 5-, 6-, and 7-second cars in the quarter mile!

We got a quick peek into Kye’s trailer; you know you’re serious about nitrous when you have an entire group of fill bottles along with you.

There were quite a few blower engines at Boddies, with blown big block Chevys leading the charge. This powerplant in Rich Worthington’s “Bat Crazy” Pro Modified driven by Troy Baugh was running nearly 40 psi of boost on their Blower Shop 14-71 supercharger to keep competitive.

Team Boddie had a heck of a time this weekend, running into issues with a fried computer, a tweaked flywheel, and a number of other things. Here they can be seen going through the Lenco after it was removed from the car. Against all odds, at elimination time, Boddie was ready to rock and roll.

Kye Kelley was on a tear from his first qualifying pass on. The ultralight Camaro launched hard and went down the track straight nearly every single run.

The Chevelle owned by Rod Burbage and Dave Parmer was probably the most serious threat to Kye’s dominance, as his ’65 Chevelle featured a screw-blown Hemi that held no shortage of power. It was probably also the loudest car in attendance.

Arruda Racing (known for their black, chop-top ’55) brought out a new lightweight nitrous Nova to the shootout. They made some solid hits, but in the end got motored around by the more powerful power-adder cars.

Monti Fitzgerald is always a crowd favorite in his flat-black Nova, and is known for wild burnouts and huge wheelies.

The action for the shootout got started with a driver’s meeting in Boddie’s pits and a chip draw, where racers found out who they were running, and what lane they’d be racing in.

Lizzy Musi’s 959ci Camaro was flying all weekend, and was a serious contender for the shootout win, until she took herself out by crossing the centerline.

This wild Camaro with the Top Fuel-style wing was a serious competitor in the 5.0 Index class, where racers ran as close to 5.00 in the eighth-mile as possible, without running under.

One of the most powerful cars on the premises was Rod Burbage’s Chevelle, which has the blown Hemi from his old Pro Mod car. Rod got loose in the semis, ending any hope he had for the overall title.

Roger Holder figured his beautiful House of Kolor orange 275-tire Camaro had what it took to compete in the Big Tire class. Running a nitrous engine of an undisclosed size, Roger can be seen here taking the victory over Cole Dow, who upped the boost to an insane 50 psi to try and defeat Roger.

In addition to the Big Tire and Small Tire classes, a number of participants showed up simply to grudge race. There was plenty of smack talk and coin flips to pick lanes.

Mike Orban was another small-tire racer who was flying in his 582ci F3 Procharger Camaro. Mike made the unique choice to run on more forgiving 28×11-inch Mickey Thompson Bracket Pro radials, but even with a 1.16 60-foot he was no match for the racers in the 1.0-second range.

Kye Kelley made the trip all the way from Mississippi in his ’92 Camaro, and took out all of the California favorites like Doug Reed and Roger Holder, before beating Boddie in the finals to take the Big Tire win.

Find Out More HERE! 1/8 Mile Racing Association http://teamboddie.com/outlaw-1-8-racing-association-classes-rules/

The post West Coast Takes On Street Outlaws at Boddie’s No-Time Race appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network https://www.hotrod.com/articles/west-coast-takes-street-outlaws-boddies-no-time-race/ via IFTTT

[endlessarchite]

Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter

Hi friends! And hi to new friends visiting from the #CreativeChristmas Challenge hosted by Remodelaholic!

To those of you who don’t know me yet: welcome. Everyone else has already started drinking and saying really embarrassing things (about themselves, not you… we’re not a super judgmental bunch). To those of you who already know me: cheers. As always, you rock. And I was just kidding about the drinking thing (unless it’s football season and a Saturday, which yes to both).

Anyway, from time to time, I like to throw my hat in on a DIY challenge or two because nothing excuses buying more power tools like overcommitting to a deadline for fun (like the 2×4 summer challenge and boom: new coffee table!). This time around, the theme was making something for Christmas. I’ve already been finding inspiration for my color scheme this year in the form of acorns, snowflakes, owls, and other wintery-woodland things, so I figured: why not see if I can fill up the inevitable empty parts of my tree with what I have on hand, rather than buying a bunch of new ornaments? I also just happened upon a set of carving bits for my Dremel and have been itching to experiment with epoxy/inlays/resins, so I started playing around until this happened:

And as a fun little bonus: I actually made a video of it too!

Tools and Materials

affiliate links of items I recommend and use are listed in this post, which support this site at no cost to you… thanks!

scrap wood (I had 1″ x 4″ poplar)

scissors

printer paper

inkjet printer

acetone or nail polish remover

Dremel 200

Dremel engraving/carving kit

band saw or scroll saw

random orbit sander

wood stain (I used Minwax Ipswich Pine and washed while it was still wet with Early American… I’ll have to show you guys more about this as I’ve done it a number of times to get the colors I like)

Mod Podge

small detail paint brush

Miss Mustard Seed’s German Glass Glitter in Silver Tiara

Martha Stewart Crafts extra fine glitter in Smoky Quartz

clear spray sealer (gloss)

small drill bit

thread (I used stuff from my cross stitch stash)

First things first: print out the image (mine is available for download near the end of the post) and cut it out. I used a scrap piece of poplar that was bound for the burn pile, so I wasn’t really expecting perfection (in fact as you can see, I first used a different image that was WAY too intricate for a first-time experiment and then decided on the final design).

To transfer the ink from the printer paper, I swabbed the back with an acetone nail polish remover. As you can see, the image didn’t transfer perfectly, but it was good enough (I got the idea from my buddy Brad’s video here — then went with the option that wouldn’t require changing out of my pajama pants or going into the cold garage that morning).

Next, I took out my Dremel and a new engraving/carving set I’d recently purchased for another inlay project. In my opinion, crafting is a good intro before graduating to larger pieces, so I figured this would help me practice with diamond tips, how to control the carve, etc. A good method is to create the hard outline first, then carve out the middle, and continue to make the inlay deeper and deeper until it’s got enough depth to hold the inlay material (glitter, epoxy I assume, whatever).

Next, I sketched out the overall shape (spoiler: it wasn’t at all even, so I highly recommend using the template) and then went to cut out the piece. And this is when it seemed like things were conspiring against me: my new scroll saw was broken… right out of the box. Womp, womp.

To make the situation a little stickier, I was about 5 hours away at this point from needing to head out of town to Raleigh, NC (recap here), and I had no other tools that would give me the right depth and shape. Disappointed but undeterred, I figured the next best thing would be to ask to borrow tools from the person I’d be visiting (thankfully, it was a trip to visit some DIY blogging friends just for fun — my pal Brittany just so happened to have a band saw in her garage). Of course, now I want one of those, too.

Of course, I’d never actually used a band saw before, so despite the general don’t-cut-your-fingers-off rule, the piece still came out a little wonky (mostly due to my non-templating sketch). I was able to shape it a little more with an orbital sander. I also carved the edges out a little more and did a final sanding with high grit sandpaper before stain.

Since the overall concept was to make this look like an inlay, I wanted to use glitter with a little more grit and sparkle: enter, German glass glitter. It’s really amazing stuff in person. To paint it into place, I relied on a small paint brush (tip: if the brush starts to fray a little, spin it as you’re dipping it into the glue to get the point fine again… check out my video to see a demo of that).

You can layer the glitter in, too: after giving it some time to dry, paint another bit of glue on top of the glitter and add more into the recessed areas. It will add depth!

I added extra-fine gold glitter around the edge and sealed the whole thing with a clear gloss spray, then drilled a hole through the top and threaded it so it could hang on the tree.

Caveat: before I sealed with a clear gloss, I actually tried to seal with an old polycrylic which unfortunately made the top and bottom tips look faded/cloudy once it dried. At first I thought I’d lean into the mistake by painting the back and sides with chalk paint and sanding to make it look rustic, but it looked really sad instead and totally detracted from the sparkle on the front. I wanted to get this done in time for the blog hop, so I just continued on with sealing again and adding the glitter around the edge. So, if you try a project like this, don’t make my mistake and you’ll get even better results!

You can also try other inlay methods, other glitter colors, fill in the center vs the outer rings with opposite hues, etc… the possibilities are pretty endless!

All in all, I think it’s going to make a nice addition to my white/gold/chrome/woodland Christmas decor theme this year (and the less I need to spend on ornaments, the more budget I have to make Christmas cocktails, hehe).

Want to try this for yourself? You can download my template here.

To be perfectly frank, I think the photos really don’t do the sparkle on this piece enough justice (in fact, I worried that it was looking too drab in photos). So, I made a video tutorial too (I’d love it if you subscribed if you haven’t already… with what I’ve learned in making this tutorial, there is more to come no doubt!).

As I mentioned, this DIY was part of a blog hop, with 25 other bloggers participating — aka, enough DIY Christmas ideas to keep you busy right up until the actual holiday (if you were so ambitiously inclined). So, check out a preview of the other projects and bloggers participating in the images below. You can also head over to the Remodelaholic post (who is hosting this hop) to check out other DIYers submitting their inspired ideas (on social media, you can look for #CreativeChristmas to find them all).

DIY Christmas Trees and Ornaments

Wintry Silver Dollar Store Christmas Tree Decor | Remodelaholic Marbled Christmas Ornaments | Doodlecraft Scrap Wood Inlay Ornaments | The Ugly Duckling House (you’re here!) Woodburned Wood Slice Ornaments | Sisters What Flocked Pine Cones | Practical and Pretty Abstract Monogram Ornaments | Domicile37 Concrete Christmas Ornaments | The Palette Muse Wood Slice Deer Ornaments | Our Crafty Mom Vintage Gumball Machine Ornaments | Beth Watson Design Studio Etched Glass Ornaments | Just Call Me Homegirl Unicorn Inspired Christmas Tree | The DIY Mommy Driftwood Reindeer Ornaments | Sustain My Craft Habit

DIY Christmas Gifts and Decor

Christmas Pine Hoop Wreath | This Mama’s Dance Gingerbread Man Candles | Nourish and Nestle Wire and Glass Chandelier | Home with Cupcakes and Crinoline Christmas Scroll Wall Art | Grace In My Space Lighted Wood Trees | Frazzled Joy Crocheted Christmas Hat | Luz Patterns Christmas Card Photo Display| Hertoolbelt JOY Porch Sign | Ginger Snap Crafts Folding Bar Cart Table | Everyday Party Magazine Wood and Burlap Christmas Sign | Leap of Faith Crafting Wood Block Snowman | Anika’s DIY Life Holiday Candle Wrap | Dragonfly & Lily Pads Christmas Pom Pom Pillow | Small Home Soul Handlettered Wall Art | Smiling Colors

Those of us who did videos for this hop can be found in the playlist below, so those of you who would rather watch than read (or just want to blow off work for a few more minutes) have something, too! *If you’re having difficulty playing it, you can jump over to the playlist here.*

There you have it! Hope you’re getting into the holiday spirit just in time. Will you be working on any decor ideas this Christmas? This is going to be a very busy holiday season for me, so be sure to check back in for more DIYs (I’m going to give that epoxy inlay idea a shot, and a few more scrap ideas are just bubbling in the ol’ brain). Have a great weekend!

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Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter published first on http://ift.tt/2qxZz2j

[archienewling]

I have wallpapered my heart out, overthought the room layout and furniture choices, and arranged my grocery store flowers just so when the florist I wanted to buy from was unexpectedly closed. Yes my friends, it is One Room Challenge reveal time, and I’m ready!

I work from home (on this very blog you are reading!), I wanted a beautiful office to call my own. I’m doing more design work these days, for myself and for others, and it seemed silly that we’ve been here as long as we have (four years!) and I had yet to dedicate myself to an office proper.

Shall we start with the desk? The exact place I’m sitting at right now as I type this post?

The chair! She’s so pretty! I always keep a blanket draped over the arm in case I’m cold. Sometimes I’ll keep the pillow on the chair and sometimes not, depending on what I’m doing and how mindful I’m being of my posture.

The desk is 5′ wide, so I have plenty of space for both my full-sized keyboard (I like having a number pad — probably a holdover from entering ISBNs all day for years) and my Wacom tablet. I started using a tablet years ago for art, but now I use it every day. I have problems with my wrists, and using a tablet instead of a mouse has been tremendously helpful.

The oversized lamp was a risk with my sloped ceiling, but I knew it would fit. (Thanks, 3D rendering to scale!) The vase hits that sweet spot between reverential and whimsical, and then the snake is just awesome.

I took various photos with doors open and with doors closed, because I wasn’t sure which way everything would photograph best. Are you digging my mannequins in the stairway?

I hung a few prints and paintings on the angled wall to my left. The vintage portrait is from the 30s and I bought her for the library, but I’m stealing her for here. At least for now.

The desk has five drawers, and to my right is a long, low storage unit made of modular craft room furniture.

The shallow drawers in the hutch are handy for corralling both personal and client design work — paint swatches, fabric and wallpaper options, that sort of thing. I suppose it won’t be as neat when I’m juggling more than four projects at a time, but I’ve also got the shelf area above the drawers and the entire surface to spread things out on.

I also have additional storage space in the closet, aka The Rainbow Room.

Someone in the comments of a previous ORC update suggested calling it The Aviary. I’m into it, but it was a quick ‘no’ from the kids. The Rainbow Room, it is. I think I’ll pick up a sheepskin or some floor pillows for them. They want to play and hang on in there, and I can’t blame them! I was always a special space, even though it’s really just a closet, and now the wallpaper makes it magical.

I have four walnut shelves from Article, but I photographed the space with only two in so that you could better see the wallpaper. The shelves are lovely and sturdy, and the shelves are already filling with fabric swatches, paint fan decks, equipment, and a nice stack of press (magazines and newspaper articles I’ve been in over the years).

The light was just a bare bulb in a socket before, so while that little number you see peeking out below is nothing amazing, it’s certainly an improvement over what was there. I bought an inexpensive light with a pull chain, and picked up a white globe to replace the ribbed glass shade that came with the base.

I did a ramshackle decoupage technique (cool/terrible band name alert!) where the two halves of the wallpaper met in the center. The seam would have been pretty noticeable and I had assumed I would be adding a piece of trim, but I ended up trimming around birds and leaves, overlapping the different sides so that the pattern blended together. I wasn’t sure if it was a brilliant or stupid idea, but I think it worked!

I like the wallpaper peeking out when I have the door open.

The marble dining table is already proving useful (and beautiful).

Also, I want to point something out here with the lighting fixture. It is wired in — I took down a ceiling fan and replaced it with this — and I wanted it centered over the table. I’m not one to heavily Photoshop, but I have edited out the chandelier chain and cord where I swagged it over from the junction box. Honestly, it was so distracting to my eye, and I plan on relocating the junction so that I no longer have to suspend it from a hook. I’m not trying to fool anyone and maybe you wouldn’t have even noticed had I not said anything, but I felt a little funny resorting to digital trickery because it’s not something I do. So if you happen to notice that the light seems to be suspended from nothing, that’s why.

The table serves as a desk, a project planning surface, a spot for the kids to hang out, and an alternative to my dining room for tabletop shoots. I knew I didn’t want another wood surface in the office since the desk and storage were already representing that category quite well. I’m not a big fan of glass tops, so that sent me looking at painted or lacquered tops, or stone. The parsons shape of the table I chose is classic, and the combination of marble and brass is perfect. Green chairs in a streamlined mod shape bring a little more fun to the grouping.

Hey there, traditional but cool blue and white planter. And hey there, cool convex mirror that I grabbed from another room! Hate that the pendant is just hanging there in the reflection, but whatevs, we’ve discussed this. Moving on!

I bought these vintage slipper chairs for my first go at the One Room Challenge. I only used one, but when you find a pair, you buy (and hoard) the pair. And lo, I found the perfect spot for them!

The little side table between them is dainty in form, but sturdy. It’s a nice spot to take a quick break and look through a design book or some magazines with a cup of coffee. And how amazing are those sconces?

I wanted sconces that could plug in, which these do, and they also have a beautiful brass toggle switch and pretty French gray fabric cording.

I’ve recently created a “Shop Our House” page, and you’ll find sources for everything there, including paint colors and links to the exact items I’ve used. The Home Office section is new and I will continue to populate it today. You can also take a look at the design plan from week 2.

Thank you so much for following along again for this edition of the One Room Challenge. I’m thrilled with the way the space turned out, and I hope you enjoyed watching the process as much as I loved bringing the design to life!

Follow along with the One Room Challenge participants!

• Boxwood Avenue • Coco & Jack • Design Manifest • Dwell with Dignity • The House That Lars Built • Little Green Notebook • The Makerista • Making it Lovely • Old Brand New • Old Home Love • The Painted House • Megan Pflug Designs • Pink Pagoda • Erica Reitman • Sacramento Street • Simply Grove • Jill Sorensen • Sugar & Cloth • Vintage Rug Shop • Waiting on Martha • Media Partner House Beautiful • TM by ORC

My One Room Challenge Posts

Follow along from the beginning! • Week 1: Hello, Office • Week 2: Design and Layout • Week 3: It’s Curtains • Week 4: Putting it Together• Week 5: What Trim Color?

And check out my previous One Room Challenges! • Spring ’16: Our Bedroom and Den • Fall ’16: Front and Back Entry, Stairs, and Hallways

© 2017, published by Making it Lovely as One Room Challenge: Week 7 (The Office Reveal!) | No comments | This post may contains affiliate links; I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

The post One Room Challenge: Week 7 (The Office Reveal!) appeared first on Making it Lovely.

[chocdono]

Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter

Hi friends! And hi to new friends visiting from the #CreativeChristmas Challenge hosted by Remodelaholic!

To those of you who don’t know me yet: welcome. Everyone else has already started drinking and saying really embarrassing things (about themselves, not you… we’re not a super judgmental bunch). To those of you who already know me: cheers. As always, you rock. And I was just kidding about the drinking thing (unless it’s football season and a Saturday, which yes to both).

Anyway, from time to time, I like to throw my hat in on a DIY challenge or two because nothing excuses buying more power tools like overcommitting to a deadline for fun (like the 2×4 summer challenge and boom: new coffee table!). This time around, the theme was making something for Christmas. I’ve already been finding inspiration for my color scheme this year in the form of acorns, snowflakes, owls, and other wintery-woodland things, so I figured: why not see if I can fill up the inevitable empty parts of my tree with what I have on hand, rather than buying a bunch of new ornaments? I also just happened upon a set of carving bits for my Dremel and have been itching to experiment with epoxy/inlays/resins, so I started playing around until this happened:

And as a fun little bonus: I actually made a video of it too!

Tools and Materials

affiliate links of items I recommend and use are listed in this post, which support this site at no cost to you… thanks!

scrap wood (I had 1″ x 4″ poplar)

scissors

printer paper

inkjet printer

acetone or nail polish remover

Dremel 200

Dremel engraving/carving kit

band saw or scroll saw

random orbit sander

wood stain (I used Minwax Ipswich Pine and washed while it was still wet with Early American… I’ll have to show you guys more about this as I’ve done it a number of times to get the colors I like)

Mod Podge

small detail paint brush

Miss Mustard Seed’s German Glass Glitter in Silver Tiara

Martha Stewart Crafts extra fine glitter in Smoky Quartz

clear spray sealer (gloss)

small drill bit

thread (I used stuff from my cross stitch stash)

First things first: print out the image (mine is available for download near the end of the post) and cut it out. I used a scrap piece of poplar that was bound for the burn pile, so I wasn’t really expecting perfection (in fact as you can see, I first used a different image that was WAY too intricate for a first-time experiment and then decided on the final design).

To transfer the ink from the printer paper, I swabbed the back with an acetone nail polish remover. As you can see, the image didn’t transfer perfectly, but it was good enough (I got the idea from my buddy Brad’s video here — then went with the option that wouldn’t require changing out of my pajama pants or going into the cold garage that morning).

Next, I took out my Dremel and a new engraving/carving set I’d recently purchased for another inlay project. In my opinion, crafting is a good intro before graduating to larger pieces, so I figured this would help me practice with diamond tips, how to control the carve, etc. A good method is to create the hard outline first, then carve out the middle, and continue to make the inlay deeper and deeper until it’s got enough depth to hold the inlay material (glitter, epoxy I assume, whatever).

Next, I sketched out the overall shape (spoiler: it wasn’t at all even, so I highly recommend using the template) and then went to cut out the piece. And this is when it seemed like things were conspiring against me: my new scroll saw was broken… right out of the box. Womp, womp.

To make the situation a little stickier, I was about 5 hours away at this point from needing to head out of town to Raleigh, NC (recap here), and I had no other tools that would give me the right depth and shape. Disappointed but undeterred, I figured the next best thing would be to ask to borrow tools from the person I’d be visiting (thankfully, it was a trip to visit some DIY blogging friends just for fun — my pal Brittany just so happened to have a band saw in her garage). Of course, now I want one of those, too.

Of course, I’d never actually used a band saw before, so despite the general don’t-cut-your-fingers-off rule, the piece still came out a little wonky (mostly due to my non-templating sketch). I was able to shape it a little more with an orbital sander. I also carved the edges out a little more and did a final sanding with high grit sandpaper before stain.

Since the overall concept was to make this look like an inlay, I wanted to use glitter with a little more grit and sparkle: enter, German glass glitter. It’s really amazing stuff in person. To paint it into place, I relied on a small paint brush (tip: if the brush starts to fray a little, spin it as you’re dipping it into the glue to get the point fine again… check out my video to see a demo of that).

You can layer the glitter in, too: after giving it some time to dry, paint another bit of glue on top of the glitter and add more into the recessed areas. It will add depth!

I added extra-fine gold glitter around the edge and sealed the whole thing with a clear gloss spray, then drilled a hole through the top and threaded it so it could hang on the tree.

Caveat: before I sealed with a clear gloss, I actually tried to seal with an old polycrylic which unfortunately made the top and bottom tips look faded/cloudy once it dried. At first I thought I’d lean into the mistake by painting the back and sides with chalk paint and sanding to make it look rustic, but it looked really sad instead and totally detracted from the sparkle on the front. I wanted to get this done in time for the blog hop, so I just continued on with sealing again and adding the glitter around the edge. So, if you try a project like this, don’t make my mistake and you’ll get even better results!

You can also try other inlay methods, other glitter colors, fill in the center vs the outer rings with opposite hues, etc… the possibilities are pretty endless!

All in all, I think it’s going to make a nice addition to my white/gold/chrome/woodland Christmas decor theme this year (and the less I need to spend on ornaments, the more budget I have to make Christmas cocktails, hehe).

Want to try this for yourself? You can download my template here.

To be perfectly frank, I think the photos really don’t do the sparkle on this piece enough justice (in fact, I worried that it was looking too drab in photos). So, I made a video tutorial too (I’d love it if you subscribed if you haven’t already… with what I’ve learned in making this tutorial, there is more to come no doubt!).

As I mentioned, this DIY was part of a blog hop, with 25 other bloggers participating — aka, enough DIY Christmas ideas to keep you busy right up until the actual holiday (if you were so ambitiously inclined). So, check out a preview of the other projects and bloggers participating in the images below. You can also head over to the Remodelaholic post (who is hosting this hop) to check out other DIYers submitting their inspired ideas (on social media, you can look for #CreativeChristmas to find them all).

DIY Christmas Trees and Ornaments

Wintry Silver Dollar Store Christmas Tree Decor | Remodelaholic Marbled Christmas Ornaments | Doodlecraft Scrap Wood Inlay Ornaments | The Ugly Duckling House (you’re here!) Woodburned Wood Slice Ornaments | Sisters What Flocked Pine Cones | Practical and Pretty Abstract Monogram Ornaments | Domicile37 Concrete Christmas Ornaments | The Palette Muse Wood Slice Deer Ornaments | Our Crafty Mom Vintage Gumball Machine Ornaments | Beth Watson Design Studio Etched Glass Ornaments | Just Call Me Homegirl Unicorn Inspired Christmas Tree | The DIY Mommy Driftwood Reindeer Ornaments | Sustain My Craft Habit

DIY Christmas Gifts and Decor

Christmas Pine Hoop Wreath | This Mama’s Dance Gingerbread Man Candles | Nourish and Nestle Wire and Glass Chandelier | Home with Cupcakes and Crinoline Christmas Scroll Wall Art | Grace In My Space Lighted Wood Trees | Frazzled Joy Crocheted Christmas Hat | Luz Patterns Christmas Card Photo Display| Hertoolbelt JOY Porch Sign | Ginger Snap Crafts Folding Bar Cart Table | Everyday Party Magazine Wood and Burlap Christmas Sign | Leap of Faith Crafting Wood Block Snowman | Anika’s DIY Life Holiday Candle Wrap | Dragonfly & Lily Pads Christmas Pom Pom Pillow | Small Home Soul Handlettered Wall Art | Smiling Colors

Those of us who did videos for this hop can be found in the playlist below, so those of you who would rather watch than read (or just want to blow off work for a few more minutes) have something, too! *If you’re having difficulty playing it, you can jump over to the playlist here.*

There you have it! Hope you’re getting into the holiday spirit just in time. Will you be working on any decor ideas this Christmas? This is going to be a very busy holiday season for me, so be sure to check back in for more DIYs (I’m going to give that epoxy inlay idea a shot, and a few more scrap ideas are just bubbling in the ol’ brain). Have a great weekend!

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The post Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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[sherlocklexa]

Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter

Hi friends! And hi to new friends visiting from the #CreativeChristmas Challenge hosted by Remodelaholic!

To those of you who don’t know me yet: welcome. Everyone else has already started drinking and saying really embarrassing things (about themselves, not you… we’re not a super judgmental bunch). To those of you who already know me: cheers. As always, you rock. And I was just kidding about the drinking thing (unless it’s football season and a Saturday, which yes to both).

Anyway, from time to time, I like to throw my hat in on a DIY challenge or two because nothing excuses buying more power tools like overcommitting to a deadline for fun (like the 2×4 summer challenge and boom: new coffee table!). This time around, the theme was making something for Christmas. I’ve already been finding inspiration for my color scheme this year in the form of acorns, snowflakes, owls, and other wintery-woodland things, so I figured: why not see if I can fill up the inevitable empty parts of my tree with what I have on hand, rather than buying a bunch of new ornaments? I also just happened upon a set of carving bits for my Dremel and have been itching to experiment with epoxy/inlays/resins, so I started playing around until this happened:

And as a fun little bonus: I actually made a video of it too!

Tools and Materials

affiliate links of items I recommend and use are listed in this post, which support this site at no cost to you… thanks!

scrap wood (I had 1″ x 4″ poplar)

scissors

printer paper

inkjet printer

acetone or nail polish remover

Dremel 200

Dremel engraving/carving kit

band saw or scroll saw

random orbit sander

wood stain (I used Minwax Ipswich Pine and washed while it was still wet with Early American… I’ll have to show you guys more about this as I’ve done it a number of times to get the colors I like)

Mod Podge

small detail paint brush

Miss Mustard Seed’s German Glass Glitter in Silver Tiara

Martha Stewart Crafts extra fine glitter in Smoky Quartz

clear spray sealer (gloss)

small drill bit

thread (I used stuff from my cross stitch stash)

First things first: print out the image (mine is available for download near the end of the post) and cut it out. I used a scrap piece of poplar that was bound for the burn pile, so I wasn’t really expecting perfection (in fact as you can see, I first used a different image that was WAY too intricate for a first-time experiment and then decided on the final design).

To transfer the ink from the printer paper, I swabbed the back with an acetone nail polish remover. As you can see, the image didn’t transfer perfectly, but it was good enough (I got the idea from my buddy Brad’s video here — then went with the option that wouldn’t require changing out of my pajama pants or going into the cold garage that morning).

Next, I took out my Dremel and a new engraving/carving set I’d recently purchased for another inlay project. In my opinion, crafting is a good intro before graduating to larger pieces, so I figured this would help me practice with diamond tips, how to control the carve, etc. A good method is to create the hard outline first, then carve out the middle, and continue to make the inlay deeper and deeper until it’s got enough depth to hold the inlay material (glitter, epoxy I assume, whatever).

Next, I sketched out the overall shape (spoiler: it wasn’t at all even, so I highly recommend using the template) and then went to cut out the piece. And this is when it seemed like things were conspiring against me: my new scroll saw was broken… right out of the box. Womp, womp.

To make the situation a little stickier, I was about 5 hours away at this point from needing to head out of town to Raleigh, NC (recap here), and I had no other tools that would give me the right depth and shape. Disappointed but undeterred, I figured the next best thing would be to ask to borrow tools from the person I’d be visiting (thankfully, it was a trip to visit some DIY blogging friends just for fun — my pal Brittany just so happened to have a band saw in her garage). Of course, now I want one of those, too.

Of course, I’d never actually used a band saw before, so despite the general don’t-cut-your-fingers-off rule, the piece still came out a little wonky (mostly due to my non-templating sketch). I was able to shape it a little more with an orbital sander. I also carved the edges out a little more and did a final sanding with high grit sandpaper before stain.

Since the overall concept was to make this look like an inlay, I wanted to use glitter with a little more grit and sparkle: enter, German glass glitter. It’s really amazing stuff in person. To paint it into place, I relied on a small paint brush (tip: if the brush starts to fray a little, spin it as you’re dipping it into the glue to get the point fine again… check out my video to see a demo of that).

You can layer the glitter in, too: after giving it some time to dry, paint another bit of glue on top of the glitter and add more into the recessed areas. It will add depth!

I added extra-fine gold glitter around the edge and sealed the whole thing with a clear gloss spray, then drilled a hole through the top and threaded it so it could hang on the tree.

Caveat: before I sealed with a clear gloss, I actually tried to seal with an old polycrylic which unfortunately made the top and bottom tips look faded/cloudy once it dried. At first I thought I’d lean into the mistake by painting the back and sides with chalk paint and sanding to make it look rustic, but it looked really sad instead and totally detracted from the sparkle on the front. I wanted to get this done in time for the blog hop, so I just continued on with sealing again and adding the glitter around the edge. So, if you try a project like this, don’t make my mistake and you’ll get even better results!

You can also try other inlay methods, other glitter colors, fill in the center vs the outer rings with opposite hues, etc… the possibilities are pretty endless!

All in all, I think it’s going to make a nice addition to my white/gold/chrome/woodland Christmas decor theme this year (and the less I need to spend on ornaments, the more budget I have to make Christmas cocktails, hehe).

Want to try this for yourself? You can download my template here.

To be perfectly frank, I think the photos really don’t do the sparkle on this piece enough justice (in fact, I worried that it was looking too drab in photos). So, I made a video tutorial too (I’d love it if you subscribed if you haven’t already… with what I’ve learned in making this tutorial, there is more to come no doubt!).

As I mentioned, this DIY was part of a blog hop, with 25 other bloggers participating — aka, enough DIY Christmas ideas to keep you busy right up until the actual holiday (if you were so ambitiously inclined). So, check out a preview of the other projects and bloggers participating in the images below. You can also head over to the Remodelaholic post (who is hosting this hop) to check out other DIYers submitting their inspired ideas (on social media, you can look for #CreativeChristmas to find them all).

DIY Christmas Trees and Ornaments

Wintry Silver Dollar Store Christmas Tree Decor | Remodelaholic Marbled Christmas Ornaments | Doodlecraft Scrap Wood Inlay Ornaments | The Ugly Duckling House (you’re here!) Woodburned Wood Slice Ornaments | Sisters What Flocked Pine Cones | Practical and Pretty Abstract Monogram Ornaments | Domicile37 Concrete Christmas Ornaments | The Palette Muse Wood Slice Deer Ornaments | Our Crafty Mom Vintage Gumball Machine Ornaments | Beth Watson Design Studio Etched Glass Ornaments | Just Call Me Homegirl Unicorn Inspired Christmas Tree | The DIY Mommy Driftwood Reindeer Ornaments | Sustain My Craft Habit

DIY Christmas Gifts and Decor

Christmas Pine Hoop Wreath | This Mama’s Dance Gingerbread Man Candles | Nourish and Nestle Wire and Glass Chandelier | Home with Cupcakes and Crinoline Christmas Scroll Wall Art | Grace In My Space Lighted Wood Trees | Frazzled Joy Crocheted Christmas Hat | Luz Patterns Christmas Card Photo Display| Hertoolbelt JOY Porch Sign | Ginger Snap Crafts Folding Bar Cart Table | Everyday Party Magazine Wood and Burlap Christmas Sign | Leap of Faith Crafting Wood Block Snowman | Anika’s DIY Life Holiday Candle Wrap | Dragonfly & Lily Pads Christmas Pom Pom Pillow | Small Home Soul Handlettered Wall Art | Smiling Colors

Those of us who did videos for this hop can be found in the playlist below, so those of you who would rather watch than read (or just want to blow off work for a few more minutes) have something, too! *If you’re having difficulty playing it, you can jump over to the playlist here.*

There you have it! Hope you’re getting into the holiday spirit just in time. Will you be working on any decor ideas this Christmas? This is going to be a very busy holiday season for me, so be sure to check back in for more DIYs (I’m going to give that epoxy inlay idea a shot, and a few more scrap ideas are just bubbling in the ol’ brain). Have a great weekend!

You'll Also Love

25 Great Gift Ideas for the Craft Beer Lover

DIY Wooden Couch Sleeve

It’s Pronounced “Damn Good Cookie̶...

Lots of Sneak Peeks: Riding the Buildathon Wave

The post Wood Inlay Ornament with German Glass Glitter appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+

from car2 http://ift.tt/2mesqe5 via as shown a lot