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candysims4 · 2 years ago

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JUPITER SET | PART 2

I'm so excited to share with you the release of this set! On it, you'll find 12 new items for CAS, including a dress, two tops, one short, two pants, four bracelets, and two flats. I named everything after Jupiter's moons, as the first part of the set. Even though there are only 17 moons out of 95, it's already a big set!

As it's too much text, I'll leave the description of each item plus the creator's notes below the cut.

ALL ITEMS ARE:

TEEN TO ELDER

BASE GAME COMPATIBLE

MADE FOR FEMALE FRAME

DISALLOWED FOR RANDOM

THUMBNAILS (HOSTED IN IMGUR)

PATREON EARLY ACCESS + MERGED OPTIONS

Thanks to all the cc creators that I used in the pic. And thanks to @maxismatchccworld, @simblrcollective, @s4library, @wewantmods, and everybody who reblog this post!

If you’re a cc finds and want to be tagged when I post, please, let me know. You can send me an ask or in DM.

With your help, more people can know about my work! 💖 Love you all, XOXO <3

DESCRIPTION OF EACH ITEM:

EUROPA LONG DRESS

4.324 POLYGONS

95 SWATCH COLORS - 55 plain colors - 40 color combinations

YOU WILL FIND IN FULL BODY/LONG DRESS

DIA TOP

3.890 POLYGONS

98 SWATCH COLORS - 55 plain colors - 43 color combinations

YOU WILL FIND IN TOP/TANK TOP

METIS T-SHIRT

3.660 POLYGONS

150 SWATCH COLORS - 55 plain colors - 53 patterned - 42 prints

YOU WILL FIND IN TOP/T-SHIRT

ANANKE SHORTS

1.100 POLYGONS

44 SWATCH COLORS - All plain colors

YOU WILL FIND IN BOTTOM/SHORTS

HIMALIA JEANS

1.102 POLYGONS

44 SWATCH COLORS - All plain colors

YOU WILL FIND IN BOTTOM/JEANS

CARPO LEGGINGS

1.066 POLYGONS

55 SWATCH COLORS - All plain colors

YOU WILL FIND IN BOTTOM/LEGGINGS OR/AND ACCESSORIES/TIGHTS

KALYKE BRACELET

1.868 POLYGONS

50 SWATCH COLORS - 15 single colors - 35 color combinations

YOU WILL FIND IN ACCESSORIES/WRIST (RIGHT)

KALE BRACELETS

2.246 POLYGONS

65 SWATCH COLORS - 15 single colors - 50 color combinations

YOU WILL FIND IN ACCESSORIES/WRIST (LEFT)

CARME BRACELET

228 POLYGONS

10 SWATCH COLORS - All plain colors

YOU WILL FIND IN ACCESSORIES/WRIST (RIGHT)

SINOPE BRACELETS

912 POLYGONS

48 SWATCH COLORS - All color combinations

YOU WILL FIND IN ACCESSORIES/WRIST (LEFT)

AMALTHEA FLATS

778 POLYGONS

55 SWATCH COLORS - All plain colors

YOU WILL FIND IN SHOES/FLATS

EIRENE FLATS

510 POLYGONS

55 SWATCH COLORS - All plain colors

YOU WILL FIND IN SHOES/FLATS

CREATOR'S NOTES:

This set really is something I'm very proud of. Each piece in this set is special to me, and I can't wait to see how you all style them in your Sims. I'm anxious to add them to as many of my Sims as possible. You will see them in future previews and photos. haha

Now let's talk about the items, starting with the Europa Long Dress and Dia Top, the most challenging pieces to create. Still, I'm so happy with how they turned out. The crochet texture and colors are simply stunning! My idea for them was to make it very casual for summer or hot days, as charming and detailed as possible.

The Metis T-Shirt is the most versatile piece! You can get it in plain colors, patterns, and prints; note that all prints are in Simlish or Sims-Themed. I love them all, not only because I have designed some of them, and they turned out exactly as I wanted! But seriously, this top is perfect for many occasions and outfits. I tried my best to make the swatches diverse to make it possible to use them in various Sims/outfits without repeating or only fitting better in more styles/occasions.

The Himalia Jeans and Ananke Shorts are both so cute!!! I especially love the heart buttons and metal pieces. These bad boys were tricky to draw as they're pixel art, and I'm the worst at it. But luckily, they look adorable at the end. I usually don't do pants/shorts with pockets, and maybe now I'll start to do more often as I really enjoyed these four pockets on both.

The Carpo Leggings are super easy to style! They're perfect for so many different occasions and outfits. I liked them especially in everyday and athletic outfits. Plus, there's a second version of them in the tights category for even more styling options.

The Kale Bracelets and Kalyke Bracelets are inspired by the beaded bracelets from the 2000s. They're simple yet beautiful and come in various color combinations. They can really make any outfit stand out!

The Carme Bracelet is the most elegant piece but also easy to use in casual outfits. Comes in ten metallic colors and a minimalist design, making it a versatile accessory to match any outfit.

The Sinope Bracelets are so practical and versatile! They're perfect for dressing up a casual or athletic outfit or even a pajama outfit. The scrunchie and hair ties combination is convenient and trendy at the same time.

The Amalthea Flats and Eirene Flats are both comfortable and easy to wear. They're perfect for adding a touch of style to any outfit.

Yet, creating this set took a lot of time and effort. I wanted everything to be perfect and had to redraw some components multiple times to achieve it. Plus, I'm used to releasing less content at once. It made me realize I'm not fast enough to do 12 items in one week, but with more practice may be possible in the future. Perhaps if I don't do too many swatches per item could be possible. Metis T-Shirt, for example, has 150 .dds files, and it took a lot of time to do that I could have used to make another shirt or cc. But it's a choice of mine, as I enjoy many options for each item for more variety. I like to always try adding as many as possible. Even not having as many as I wanted, I'm still thrilled with the result and worthed any second I have spent on it, not only in this shirt but the whole set.

I am thinking of doing a poll to see what you guys prefer, more items with fewer swatches or, as it's right now, as many swatches as possible and fewer items.

I'm sorry it took me a little longer to release this new cc. I hope you'll like this set, and it was worth the wait! XOXO

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antiquatedplumbobs · 2 years ago

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Antiquated Brindleton

An 1890s Decades Challenge Save File

This save has been almost a year in the making, but it's finally here! It includes a completely rebuilt Brindleton Bay inspired by historic New England towns and set in the 1890s. This save uses a light amount of historical cc and most of the packs.

Download and details under the cut:

SAVE DETAILS:

Includes:

Eight new residential lots

Seven new community lots

Six new households

Builds and households are all located in Brindleton Bay. The world is intended to be historically accurate to about 1890, though some liberties for functionality have been taken.

Builds in other worlds have been deleted. The necessary buildings, like dorms, active career lots, and the high school, have all been left in place.

Townies have been evicted, but not deleted, as I prefer EA townies to fully randomized townies.

If you’d like more period appropriate townies to add, the lovely @jewishsimming has some great historical ones to download and @cowplant-snacks has an amazing tutorial on how to manage your townies with MCCC.

REQUIREMENTS: I have all the packs except Batuu and some of the kits. I didn’t limit myself when building. I don’t have everything listed out here, but I will be uploading all the lots and households to my gallery, so if you’d like to know specific pack usage you’ll be able to check there. If you load in and things are replaced or missing and you think it looks obvious feel free to message me, I’m always happy to try to help you find something else that fits! This save includes historical CC, some is included in my download in folders and some you will need to download from the creators directly. The CC required is listed and linked below, you need to download these linked pieces in ADDITION to the included cc folders.

CC To Download:

@lilis-palace

FOLKLORE Set

@s-imagination

Cottage Kitchen Stuff Pack

@happylifesims

1840s Suspenders Outfit

1900s Male Hunting Fashion

1920s Nightgown

Piteous Outfit

Sylas Fashion Set

Wilbur Outfit

@satterlly

Medieval Nightgown Della

@vroshii

Functional Tennis Set

@vampireloreskill

Antique Standing Camera

Creators Whose CC I Included:

@ameyasims (Better Than a Bush Outhouse, Victorian Swimwear)

@buzzardly28 (Multiple women’s hairs)

@chereindolente (Sacco Chore Coat, Edwardian Child Clothes)

@gilded-ghosts (Boudoir Belle, Victorian Visions, New Woman)

@jewishsimming (Off The Grid Objects, CAS items)

@linzlu (Assorted CAS and BB items)

@the-melancholy-maiden (Victorian Hair and Hat)

@nolan-sims (Potbelly Stove Set)

@pandorasimbox (Get To Church Pack, Azariah’s Sack Suit, Antique Slipper Tub, Heirloom Silhouette Portraits)

@peacemaker-ic (Simple Siding Wall Set, Luxurious Single Bedding V2)

@plumbobteasociety (Some BB and CAS items from the Cottage Garden Pack, HSL Happy Birthday Set)

@twentiethcenturysims (Langtree Hair, Historical High Chair, Quilts for Kids)

@waxesnostalgic (Sportswear Separates, Peterpan Bodysuit)

Thank you to all of these wonderful creators, your historical cc creations make this game a million times better to play and I appreciate all of you so very much. Recommended but not required mods:

Timeless by @pandorasimbox

Default Map Replacements by Deshayan (if you’d like your map to look like mine does in the preview)

Victorian NPC Replacements and Llama Scouts Historical Replacements by @cowplant-snacks

Home Regions by Kuttoe

DOWNLOAD: There are five zipped folders to download, four of which contain included cc, and one which includes the save itself.

Download the "AB_SaveFile" folder, unzip it and simply move the file inside to your saves folder inside your Sims 4 folder (where your mods folder is located).

The included cc is in four folders (to allow for easier upload/download) for build, buy, clothing, and hair. Simply download the folders, unzip them, and place them in your mods folder.

After this you should be good to load up your game and get playing, let me know if you run into any issues, I'm happy to try to troubleshoot. SFS | Google Drive THANK YOU: To all my amazing testers: @epistolarysims @aheathen-conceivably @cowplant-snacks and especially @simadelics who edited my household and build descriptions.

If you use this save file, please tag me in any photos you take, I want to see them all!! This save has been my baby for so very long and I cannot wait to see what you all do with it!

@maxismatchccworldrld @mmoutfittersters

#ts4 save file #sims 4 save file #save file #ts4 decades challenge #sims 4 decades challenge #ts4 build #sims 4 build #ts4 historical #sims 4 historical #sims 4 history challenge #ts4 history challenge #antiquatedbrindleton

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fuckyeahgoodomens · 2 years ago

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The Good Omens Card Game is coming out June 5! 🥳❤

Renegade Game Studios will release Good Omens: An Ineffable Game June 5th, charging players with stopping the apocalypse in seven different battle games, each of which you can learn as you play, all in one box! Each of the seven cooperative battle games sees players taking on a different challenge, and each can be played at varying difficulties!

“We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Amazon Studios to bring fans a Good Omens game” said Scott Gaeta, President of Renegade Game Studios, “Being a huge fan myself, it was important that we capture the spirit of the show and I think that designer, Matt Hyra, came up with something fans will really enjoy.”

In Good Omens: An Ineffable Game players will call upon characters, both much-loved and deeply-loathed, in order to defeat the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Fight Heaven, Vanquish Hell, and even prevent Armageddon. The battle games are easy to learn but pack a challenge for any group, and each is themed around the confrontations that take place at the conclusion of Good Omens Season 1.

Fans can catch up on the first season of Good Omens now streaming on Prime Video ahead of the second season premiering July 28th. The series is co-created by Neil Gaiman and is based on the well-loved and internationally best-selling novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

“Good Omens: An Ineffable Game promises to bring the world of Good Omens to life in an exciting new way” said Jamie Kampel, Head of Licensing & Merchandising for Amazon Studios, “We are thrilled to be creating this game in collaboration with a well-known board game publisher like Renegade, who is passionate about the property and has adeptly captured the tone and details of the series in a way that will delight fans.”

Renegade will be producing three versions of Good Omens: An Ineffable Game, each with their own unique box art and bonus items, but all feature the same great gameplay! The Amazon exclusive version will include 12 foil versions of the character cards in the game. (= First Version) The Barnes & Noble exclusive version includes a Heaven & Hell-themed black and silver embroidered Good Omens dice bag (= Second Version), while the Hobby Market exclusive includes an Agnes Nutter Book of Prophecies-themed dice bag, in a luxurious green with gold embroidery (= Third Version).

Good Omens: An Ineffable Game will be available wherever games are sold and have a suggested retail price of $25.

Amazon - $25.00 - the exclusive 12 foil character card versions (First Version)

renegadegamestudios.com or Hobby Market- €25.00 - seems like this is the Third Version with the Agnes Nutter bag, they have several internet stores that you can switch at the left corner of the page (for example for EU click on the last one):

The Barnes & Noble (Second Version) didn't publish the product at their pages yet :)

The Agnes Nutter Book of Prophecies-themed dice bag from the third editon:

#good omens #good omens card game #good omens merchandise #good omens goods #merchadise #WAHOO! :)

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shadowandlightt · 1 year ago

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Of Nightmares and Memories /six/ Azriel X reader

Series Warnings: Kidnapping. Mistreatment. Cursing. Pining. Violence. Depression. Talks of suicide. Eventual smut

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five

You toss and turn in your bed, unable to sleep. It seems like no matter how many tonics you tried taking, none of them are going to do their job. Not with Rhys back in the Court of Nightmares with your father, Cassian and Azriel with them as well.

It always made you anxious when they were away from Valaris, no matter where they were. You knew no one would dare touch them in the Court of Nightmares, but you also knew the roles they had to play. And how taxing it was on all three of your boys.

Rustling in the hall made you sit up. The house was quiet, no one else was here aside from your mother, who was most likely fast asleep and not pacing outside of your door. Carefully, you got out of bed and reached for the dagger on your nightstand, it had been a gift from Az for your last birthday.

You weren’t sure what you expected when you opened your door, but it wasn’t Az pacing back and forth like he did before he entered your father’s office.

“Az?” You question, causing him to pause, “What are you doing out here? Aren’t you meant to be-”

He rushes forward, grabbing your face in his hands before crashing his lips against yours. You’re taken back for a moment, because he’d never been so forceful with you before. All of his touches were always light and gentle as if he was afraid you might break. But never this…hunger.

“Az-”

“I flew straight here after we were dismissed,” He says against your lips, “I had to see you.”

You rub your hands down his arms, trying to calm him, “I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere Az.”

“The things those vile men said-”

“They always say things,” You can feel your eyes rolling.

“I wanted to kill them. I should’ve.”

“Shh,” You whisper, pulling him into your room and shutting the door, “I’m perfectly fine. They can’t so much as put a finger on me. I’m untouchable, remember?”

His hands wander down your body, “You’re far from untouchable.”

“Maybe to you.”

He smirks and Cauldron it’s a beautiful sight. You would do anything to see him smirk or smile all of the time. And Mother when he laughs, it's your undoing. But when he sings, and he does for you, you lose all control.

“I love being able to touch you,” He said gruffly.

“I love that you love touching me,” You somehow challenge him with the simple sentence.

Your nightgown leaves little to the imagination as you back away from him towards the bed. You eye him for a moment before holding a hand out in a silent invitation. Maybe not for sex, because you’d never had sex with anyone before, let alone Azriel. But for something else, something far more intimate. Because he hardly slept, let alone with anyone else besides you.

He toes off his boots and undoes the straps to his various sheaths along his body. You know the look in his eyes. The adrenaline is wearing off and he’s starting to crash. You know he’ll likely be asleep before his head even really hits the pillow. And that’s okay, because you love that he feels so safe with you.

“I have to leave before the sun is up,” He warns you.

“I know,” You tug at his hand again, “Just for the night.”

He swallows hard. You aren’t sure how much restraint it takes for him to do this with you, because every time he seems to battle with himself. Yet, he does it anyway. He always seems to find his way back to your bed.

“I wish I could have the mornings too,” he whispers to you.

You nuzzle against him and pull him down onto the bed, tangling your legs with his before pulling the covers over both of you. You try to blink away the tears before they fall, because you wish you could have every night and every morning with him. Not just the stolen moments you’ve become so accustomed to. You’re tired of sneaking around Valaris just to have a moment with him. Sure your brother and Cas know, because they’re both nosy busy bodies, but if your father ever found out he would have Azriel killed on sight. Precious Shadowsinger or not.

“Hush now,” You tell him softly, “We have what we have. And I thank the Mother for it everyday.”

It’s his turn to nuzzle against you. He kisses your neck before snuggling down into your bed, pulling you on top of him. Your whole body relaxes against him. Because this feels like the most natural thing in the world to you. As if nothing else mattered but him and you.

“Do you want to talk about it?” You ask him quietly.

“Not particularly,” he replies with equal softness, “I hate having to go to that place. I’m just thankful you were spared this time.”

“It’s all over now,” You assure him, “Get some sleep. I have no doubt there will be plenty for you to do within the coming days.”

“He’s sending us back to the camps,” He tells you, voice turning cold.

Your body goes rigid, because you know how much Azirel hates the camps. They all hate them, but Az and Cas especially. You know there’s nothing you can do to stop it, nothing you can do to change your fathers mind. So instead you hold Az even tighter, kissing along his jaw before reaching his lips.

You kiss him slowly, pouring every ounce of love you feel into it. You haven’t uttered those words to him, but you feel them. So deeply in your chest it nearly hurts. You’re alive with it. As if your love is a living breathing thing that somehow connects the two of you. You revel in it. Because you know that somehow he feels the same way.

You feel it in every touch. Every kiss. Every stolen moment with him.

“Sleep now,” You whisper to him.

Sleep now my love.

“I hate I won’t be here when you wake,” he kisses the top of your head.

“One day,” you promise him, “One day we’ll be free to do as we wish.”

Only that day never came. Because two weeks later you were taken by Tamlin and his brothers. You watched as they cleaved your mother’s wings from her body, and then, only once she was screaming and bleeding out, begging for your life instead of hers, did they remove her head and put her out of her misery. She never knew that you were spared. But not spared in every way.

They knew you possessed wings too, one of Tamlin’s brothers, the more brutish of them, probably the one next in line to be High Lord, decided to slice into your back for them. As if you had them hidden just behind your skin. You screamed for hours as they flayed your back open.

Tamlin crudely healed you before they brought you back to the manor house. The glamor Tamlin himself put on you and your rooms were too strong for Rhys to see through. Or maybe he was too preoccupied with killing Tamlin’s father to see through it. Either way, he left without you, which he never would have done had he known you were there.

Outside, people were gathered for the wedding. Feyre and Tamlin’s wedding. The thought made you want to get sick. You couldn’t imagine her, the wild human who went charging under the mountain, being stuck here to be nothing more than a broodmare. She was already withering away.

Her wrenching woke you up nightly, although you never heard Tamlin move a muscle. You could gut him for what he was doing to that poor girl. She was slowly suffocating here. You might die here in the Spring Court, but you’d be damned if you let Feyre die here too.

Ianthe, the bitch herself, reemerged for the wedding. You hoped you’d seen the last of her years ago, when Tamlin turned her down the last time. But it seemed she found a way to weave her way back into Spring. Anothing thing to make you sick.

You watch, eyes wide as Feyre appears, looking like the ridiculously frilly dolls you had as a small child. The aisle is laden with red rose petals, despite the fact you heard Feyre beg for no red anywhere near the day. You wondered if she looked at it and saw blood.

She takes one step, and then another, but never makes it to the dais where Tamlin is waiting with an open hand. Ianthe is trying to coax her towards them. Saying ridiculous things that make you grind your teeth together.

But Feyre is not moving. You can’t see her face, but you can feel her panic. The sheer panic that’s ripping through her as easily as that damned wyrm would have Under The Mountain. You wish you could leave the room and help her, take her anywhere but here, but you’re stuck. Bound to stay in the room thanks to warding Tamlin set upon it days ago. He claimed it was to keep you out of trouble, but really it was to save his own skin. There are too many people from too many courts, if one of them was to see you, and mention something to Rhys, Tamlin would be dead.

You can almost hear Feyre praying for someone to help her, before a thunderous crack shakes the very earth. Darkness pools just feet from Feyre and your brother steps out from it. You loosen a breath you weren’t even sure you were holding. He could take her away, even if just for a week, but the wedding wouldn’t go through. Feyre would be safe for a week. Well looked after under Rhys’ supervision, maybe she would even eat something while she was there.

He would take her to the Moonstone Palace, above the Court of Nightmares, it was the safest place for her. It wouldn’t reveal too much about the court, and wouldn't show her anything of importance. But most importantly, it would keep her above ground, where she could breathe.

Even with your fae hearing, you couldn’t hear what Rhys was saying. Your hands were pressed to the glass, begging for him to somehow see you and bring you with him. But he reached for Feyre in one quick moment and they were gone.

It took Tamlin all of five minutes to storm into your rooms. You opened your mouth to say something smart and snarky, but the back of his hand collided with your face, sending you flying backwards.

A metallic taste fills your mouth as you fight the urge to spit the blood out. You push yourself up onto your hands, and look up. Tamlin is seething, angrier than you’d ever seen from him. And you pride yourself on being able to make him extremely angry. You’d forced those claws to come out more than once, made him explode several times over the hundreds of years that you’d been here. You were very proud of it. But this was new.

“I’ll kill the both of you,” He hissed.

“I’d like to see you try,” You laugh, blood coating your teeth from where your lip had split, “Killing me might be easy, thanks to how weak you like to keep me, but killing him? No, not even you could manage that, oh High Lord.”

“Even a High Lord can be killed,” He seethes.

“Perhaps, but even with your full power, you couldn’t kill Rhys. He would mist you before you got the chance,” You tell him, still grinning wildly, “But by all means, go ahead and kill me. My life was over the moment you stole me.”

“I saved you,” He moves back to hit you once more, “And for what? You’re nothing. Your own brother doesn’t care that you live. You stood in front of him and he didn’t even notice.”

You feel that blow harder than any physical blow he could have dealt you. Because it’s true, Rhys never noticed. He had three months since Amerantha had been killed, and he hasn’t come for you. Your escape plan hadn’t worked, because he hadn’t even noticed that you were right there in front of him. Have you changed so much?

“I think letting you live with the knowledge that he doesn't care is better than killing you outright,” It was Tamlin’s turn to laugh now, “His precious sister, the one he killed for, right under his nose the entire time. How pathetic.”

You make a wounded sort of noise.

“Yes, letting you live with that truth is far greater,” Tamlin seemed to agree with himself, “Let’s see how you do locked away until he returns Feyre to me.”

“One day Tamlin, I will help rip you limb from limb,” You promise, “One day.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Little Star,” He spits the old nickname at you.

Tag List

@historygeekqueen @saltedscotchcoffee @queerqueenlynn @wallacewillow0773638 @sstrohma @hnyclover @thelov3lybookworm @maddybraps @minnieoo @witchymomfrien @mariahoedt @one-big-fangirl @amara-moonlight @st0rmyt @annamariereads16 @hunterksmith @sleepylunarwolf @sh4nn @emryb @mikatanazaki

#acomaf #acotar #azriel #azriel x reader #acotar fanfiction #azriel x you #acotar fic #azriel acotar #azriel fanfic #azriel shadowsinger

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johnbierce · 11 months ago

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Fantasy short story anthology time!

My new book, The Gorgon Incident and Other Stories: A Mage Errant Anthology, is out now on Amazon and Audible!

I absolutely love writing short stories. They push me as an author in ways that novels don't, and each one presents me with a unique, fascinating challenge. And, with this anthology, they allow me to explore parts of Anastis, the world of Mage Errant, in ways I couldn't in the main series. I get to travel to out-of-the-way corners, visit ordinary people to see how they get by in a world of giant monsters and ruthless archmages battling for control of petty territories, to explore secret conspiracies and legendary historical figures, and to flesh out Anastis' ecology, culture, and history.

If you haven't read Mage Errant yet, the first three ebooks are free for the next few days, and books four through six are on sale for $0.99 in the US and UK! Mage Errant is a completed, seven book magic school progression fantasy series, following the adventures of Hugh of Emblin as he goes from being a shy, neurodiversefailure of a student mage who struggles with anxiety and depression to being a shy, neurodiverse terrifying archmage who struggles with anxiety, depression, giant monsters, and magical superweapons. It features found family, giant monsters, a science-inspired hard magic system where you're as liable to run into hair or bismuth mages as fire mages, giant monsters, lots of queer characters, giant monsters (some of whom are also queer characters), kaijucratic systems of government, and sapient living cities. (Did I mention the giant monsters?)

The stories in the Gorgon Incident are written to be legible even to people who haven't read Mage Errant yet- though I think most people will get more out of them after reading the main series. The twenty-four stories, all originally published on my Patreon, span five centuries of history, from the last years of the Ithonian Empire up to the events of the series itself, even visiting another of Anastis' continents for the first time.

I also leaned hard into the science-inspired aspects of the setting with many of the stories, building what I like to call science puzzle stories, where the plot of the story revolves around the real-life behavior of various materials and natural processes, through a magical lens. (I had a lot of fun doing it, and it even let me include a whole additional appendix filled with notes on the science of the short stories- I love appendices.)

(Art by Aaron McConnell and Lee Moyer.)

A fugitive child finds shelter with a monster of legend. A mind-blind scholar outwits the mages who disdain him. A gold mage must secure a bank vault from a monster capable of obliterating entire cities. An aging basketweaver wakes up one morning to find a brand new river in front of her house. A palace-sized octopus seeks to defend his city from a living fortress of bone— if he can get his arms to cooperate.

In these twenty-four short stories set in the world of Mage Errant, John Bierce explores the murky depths of history, forgotten corners of Ithos and beyond, and the strangest reaches of magic itself.

Gorgon Incident US link Gorgon Incident UK link Gorgon Incident CA link Gorgon Incident AU link

Gorgon Incident Audible US link Gorgon Incident Audible UK link Gorgon Incident Audible CA link Gorgon Incident Audible AU link

Amazon US series page Amazon UK series page Amazon CA series page Amazon AU series page

#progression fantasy #fantasy books #fantasy novels #mage errant #book sales

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changingplumbob · 5 months ago

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A Party To Die For Templates: SFS

So I may have got a tad overexcited about the Halloween CAS Challenge created by @la-llama-sims, and I made templates for every prompt. I wanted to share them on the off chance someone wanted to also do the challenge but maybe didn't have time to do much other than screenshots.

Tutorial below on how to make your own cards using the templates if you are unfamiliar with photo software, all you need is the template and a screenshot of your sim! Very little technical skill required to so feel free to jump in for Simblreen (the month of October on simblr). Remember to go to the original creator post to check out the prompts and the hashtag given for creations is #LLPTDF. Hope to see some of your creations next month, keep them for the spooky season 🎃👻🦇

Strap in and follow along as I make Glenn here (he won't do the spellcaster prompt for Simblreen, it's dress up after all, but it makes sense for a demo)

Step one: Grab the zipped folder of templates on SFS HERE. Unzip the folder and put it somewhere easy to find in your documents, I have a tumblr specific folder my templates are normally sorted in.

Step two: Open your photo editing program of choice. I use paint.net which is old but for this demonstration I will use Photopea, the online free alternative to adobe. You will see the screen below

Step three: Click "Open From Computer" right in the middle under the main title. Find the screenshot you have taken that you would like to use and open it. Now the hole in my template is 744x991 but you can make it slightly bigger if you don't want to fuss as much with lining things up exactly. To resize image from the top bar (Image -> Image Size) We're going to use the crop tool when we have our picture.

Step four: Pull on the squares at the edges to change the size. If you need click View in the top bar and you can zoom in to allow finer selecting. When you have the right size click the tick and copy the image. Keyboard shortcuts are Ctrl+A to select all, then Ctrl+C to copy.

Step five: Open the template you want to use (File -> Open, from the top bar). Add a new layer using either the top bar (Layer -> New -> Layer) or the icons on the bottom right.

Step six: With the new layer selected paste the image, Ctrl+V.

Step seven: On the right of the screen you'll be able to see layer order. Drag the layer with your sim underneath the background layer. This is what will let you slot in your picture.

Step eight: Finishing touches! Unless you are super duper lucky your sim won't appear in the exact right place, you'll have to move them around using the move tool. For precision you'll need to zoom in and move your field of vision using the hand tool.

You'll know it's in the right place when you can no longer see any of the negative space behind it. I like to check both corners to make sure I've got it. This is where having a sim image slightly larger will make it easier.

If you like you can finish now. From the top bar File -> Export as -> PNG or JPG. The picture will save to your downloads folder. If you want to add your own text, keep reading, as I've left space at the bottom for your username, the sim name, and a profile pic or other logo. Or go ahead and crop it out, who needs extra hassle when there are cute CAS looks to be made?

Step nine: From the bar on the right select the large T to add some text, it will automatically spawn in a new layer. Scroll through text options and find one you like (the text style I used isn't in photopea so we will find another). Depending on the type of text you will likely need to play around with the size as well.

Step ten: Start typing. When you're done you can highlight what you have written and use that size box to adjust how big the text is. Select the move tool from the right to move your text where you want it. Repeat step nine if you want text on the other side. I've chosen to put my username on one side, and my sim's name on the other.

Step eleven: Logo time. Open a pre shrunk logo (I scaled my pride plumbobs down to 125x125) and copy. Back on the template add a new layer then paste your image (for some reason I had to copy twice before it would do the right thing, I don't have an explanation sorry). Then using the move tool and the hand tool get your image where you want it.

From the top bar File -> Export as -> PNG or JPG. Again it will have saved to your downloads folder.

Voila, we have a Glenn card! Hopefully you have a your sim card. I spent hours doing up all the templates so feel free to fill them with your sims for the challenge. All I ask is that you don't claim templates as your own work or shove them behind a paywall because rude and the whole premise of Simblreen is free treats! Obviously you do NOT need the templates to participate in the challenge, the cards are just how I'll be presenting mine. Like CAS challenges the possibilities are most often only limited by your imagination.

#sims 4 #the sims #simblr #my sims #ts4 #active simblr #Enjoy my friends #I wanted all of us to be able to do Simblreen #Even if we don't have prior skills

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usafphantom2 · 12 days ago

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#TomcatTails

#TomcatTuesday

That Time I Bagged an F-16

I’ve written quite a bit about the challenges when flying the F-14A Tomcat against the F-16 Viper. It’s a very formidable Fighter, highly maneuverable, light weight, nearly 1 to 1 thrust ratio, fast roll rate, 9+ G capable, etc., etc. In contrast, the F-14A is much larger, heavier, .75 to 1 thrust ratio at best, slower roll rage, 7 G capable, etc., etc. It’s similar to two boxers, one with longer reach, more muscles, and better footwork; you know how it’s normally going to end. You’ve also heard me quote the Red Baron about the importance of “the man in the box”, vice the box itself. That will always be true but in reality, some boxes are REALLY good and can make even a mediocre pilot fairly formidable. At any rate, enough excuse making.

As one gets better in the air-to-air arena over time, you learn your own personal limitations but also discover a few of your own techniques that seem to work for you. The more time you spend on it, your BFM (Basic Fighter Maneuvers) get better and better and your skills improve, just like any endeavor (mental or physical or both). Wikipedia, for what it’s worth, has a pretty good section describing BFM in great detail and defines them as:

“The tactical movements performed by fighter aircraft during air combat maneuvering (ACM, also called dogfighting), to gain a positional advantage over the opponent. BFM combines the fundamentals of aerodynamic flight and the geometry of pursuit, with the physics of managing the aircraft's energy-to-mass ratio, called its specific energy.”

OK, pretty good start. The advanced stuff comes with practice and experience and instruction by the highly qualified bogey drivers at the Aggressor squadrons and for the purposes of this #TomcatTail we’re talking about the VF-126 Bandits at Miramar, CA.

When you’re between cruises and deployments, Fighter Squadrons have time for Unit Level Training (ULT) that doesn’t require the rest of the air wing to support. This is great since the squadrons are pretty scattered (Tomcats/E-2s at Miramar, S-3s at North Island, Hornets in Lemoore, A-6/EA-6 at Whidbey Island). This is also the time you take on some new Nuggets and focus on the basic A/A and A/G skills. One way we did this as a community was an annual flight line wide contest known as “Fighter Derby”. While the specific rules escape me (it WAS 30 years ago, please), it’s essentially hosted/run by the Bandits and all squadrons field 3 or 4 sections to compete against the rest of the squadrons on the base.

As you may imagine, something like this got HIGHLY competitive. As such, so was Bombing Derby that measured your A/G skills with precise times on target, etc. There were a number of other flight line contests and awards to be won at Miramar that all factored into the annual competition to win either the coveted “Battle E” for excellence or the even MORE coveted “Mutha” trophy for the most shit hot, coolest squadron on the flight line. The Mutha story would take a book, so I’ll leave it to another time, but that was THE trophy to win.

Our squadron, the VF-24 Renegades, began to prepare for the contest by focusing strictly on ACM for a couple weeks. We assigned crews to their specific sections (two planes are a section, four planes are a division). Just my luck, I got paired up with our only former Bogey Driver from VF-126, “Space”. Space was one of those rare salty dudes that just seemed older than he should be and spent a long time as a Lieutenant, eventually got selected for Lieutenant Commander, but likely wasn’t going much beyond that. That’s not a dig by any means, he just managed to stay in the cockpit his entire career and didn’t get those “checks in the block” that put one on track for higher ranks.

He was a WIZARD with the Tomcat because, as you’ve heard me say often, them damn Bogey Drivers were just SO good at ACM in any platform they flew. He had F-16N Viper time, A-4M Skyhawk time, and F-5E Tiger II time. He could transform the often lumbering F-14A Tomcat into quite the nimble minx (mostly) and would routinely beat up anyone in the squadron. He knew when to control energy to keep the fight going, when to transition into a vertical looping fight or a slow flat-scissors fight, and when to sell the farm (knots) and take a lethal shot. All in all, that’s a GREAT guy to go into Fighter Derby with!!

The day comes for VF-24 to throw their sections at the Bandits and it’s (naturally) beautiful weather. As I recall the scenario, we’d meet in the Restricted Area 2301 West to the west of MCAS Yuma. That’s a huge training range with a TACTS range inside of it (tracked your aircraft) as well as a great target complex called “Cactus West”. A little Fighter lore; years ago the VF-2 Bounty Hunters (callsign “Bullet”) lost a jet out there due to a departure and flat spin. It impacted in a mountain pass in the Barry Goldwater Range and to this day, the site is called “Bullet Pass.” (aircraftarchaeology.com/f14goldwater.h…)

Space and I launch out of Miramar, as ready as we’ll ever be (me at least). After our transit to R-2301 we check in with Range Control and check in with the Bogeys. They were already on-site as they’re doing one engagement per section (you get one run) so they can cycle through 2 or 3 sections pretty easily before they have to RTB to Miramar. Today, a Viper and a Dog (A-4) are on the menu. Or is it going to be Tom Kitty for lunch? We’ll see.

The basics here are that you start with a 30-mile set to give both sections time to acclimate and maneuver as needed to provide the most advantageous merge. The overall score is determined by time-to-kill and if you lose anyone. Key to note is that this is a training evolution. The Bogeys are going to give you a HARD problem, but not an IMPOSSIBLE problem. They will fight you hard but they will not just spank the shit out of you. You’re being judged on how you engage, how you react to perceived bogey mistakes, if you make any mistakes, etc. Again, I will be a hard fight but you can both survive. The question is can you kill them faster than everyone else?

So the set up is ready and we call “Fights On”. Space is on the left (lead) and I’m on the right in 1 mile combat spread, stepped down about a thousand feet (don’t be co-altitude, too easy on the bogies). As we march in, we get radar on the Bogies. At this point we can see two, about a mile apart but don’t know which one is which, Viper or Dog. What you DON’T want to do here is let them “bracket” your section (where both pass outboard me and Space….kiss of death) and you don’t want to meet off center so either Space or I go down their middle; also not good. Best scenario is you bracket THEM, and Space on the left turns right to attack my guy with angles and me on the right, turn left to engage HIS guy with angles. Classic “switch”. Break the hands/pens out, take a minute and think that through…..I’ll wait.

Once you’re within 10 or 15 seconds of a merge, you’re not allowed to try and cross over someone’s nose to change the pass from left-to-left to right-to-right because you could screw it up and collide nose on. Not good (but frankly not painful as you’d never know it happened). As luck would have it, we face the Kobayashi Maru; we’re getting bracketed and can’t maneuver to change it. Wonderful. And I get the Viper……down my right side. Nuts.

As I’m merging with the Viper I take a peak at the Dog passing down Space’s left…..oooh, he’s going nose high right. Towards me but nose up. I have several options, mostly bad, but one that I think might work. Space follows him nose up near vertical to get separation, the Viper turns across my tail and starts pulling for Space, and I elect to roll right and pull OUT of the fight and away from the Dog. Strange, but it works out. You’ll see.

So I’m pulling for my life to get back in the fight, the Dog is struggling to catch up since I got such separation, and the Viper is chasing Space up hill and left. After a 180° I then pitch it pure nose low (straight down) and roll my lift vector to where I THINK Space and the Viper are going to be in about 20 seconds and pull….HARD. The lift vector is an imaginary plane coming out the top of my jet and it’s where you’re pulling to in space. Did I say I was pulling HARD?

After a few seconds, the gray-out starts to impact my vision. When you’re pulling that many G's and you’re body is fighting 7 times the force of gravity in sometimes awkward positions in the cockpit, it’s not hard to let the G get in front of you. You’re doing your “HOOK” maneuver, straining your stomach to keep blood in your head and your G-suit is full inflated, but sometimes it’s not enough. If you’re sitting there looking straight ahead, imagine your peripheral vision going gray at the far left and right and then slowly getting more gray toward the middle, and eventually it takes a circle shape where 80 or 90% of your view is now gray. That’s gray out. The harder you pull the smaller that circle gets. If you ease off, the circle gets bigger. You’re conscious, you talking to your RIO (in this case “Watts”) and you’re flying your jet, you just can’t see all that good.

The timing wasn’t quite right to ease the pull yet; that’s the instinctual part of ACM. You just KNOW how fast you’re turn rating across the sky and you just KNOW when you’ll be nose on the bogie based on where he was and what he’s was doing 30 seconds ago. You just KNOW. I can’t really explain it past that.

I keep the pull on and I’m mostly grayed out for a few more seconds. And then it’s time. Relax the pull and Voila!, I’m in a nose up position looking at beautiful blue sky. And wonder of wonders there’s a Viper in my windscreen and his left rear quarter is showing me some leg. He’s closing in on a shot on Space but my Sidewinder seeker head is already staring to growl. Quick finger fire to get the ‘Winder to lock and “Fox 2 the Viper in a left turn…….kill Viper.”

The Dog is still a bit behind me and not nose on and Space keeps his hard turn in and gets nose on the Dog pretty quick. I come hard left now to get the Dog to chase and he does. A few seconds later Space bags the Dog with a ‘Winder at about a mile. “Knock it off” and head home for a quick debrief and probably beers at the O’Club. That tended to be the default at Miramar.

We didn’t win Fighter Derby that year but our flight did reinforce a few key lessons:

1. I’d rather be lucky than good.

2. Even a blind squirrel finds a Viper once in a while.

@RSE_VB via X

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hintsofhoney · 2 years ago

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Bad Moon Rising

Paring(s): Dean Winchester x F!Reader

Summary: The world's ending, and Dean has something to confess.

Square(s) Filled: free space for @anyfandomangstbingo

Tags: 16+, kinda fluffy, kinda angsty

Word Count: 492

A/N: I'm (semi) back! I had a baby, so writing has been on the backburner, but this was my first time dipping my toes in the water since I gave birth and I'm hoping it's the first step in getting over this postpartum writer's block. This was written for @deanwanddamons' rock flash fic challenge! The song I got was Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and whatever this is was born. GIF is mine. Enjoy!

You can also read me on Ao3!

DEAN WINCHESTER MASTERLIST | SUPERNATURAL MASTERLIST | MAIN MASTERLIST

It’s been an hour, maybe two, since they accepted their fate. They don’t know exactly when the world is ending, but Cas thinks it’ll be within the next few hours or so.

Y/N needs to find Dean. Not because she thinks he’s found a way out of this mess — there is no way out — but because she loves him, and whether he knows that or not, she wants to spend her last moments on Earth next to him. She finds him right where she knew he’d be — sitting in Baby, in the bunker’s garage.

She walks over and opens the door, sliding into the passenger’s seat without saying a word. Dean’s staring out the windshield, his knuckles white from his grip on the steering wheel. He doesn’t move to look at her. He doesn’t say a word.

“Dean,” she whispers, placing her hand on his shoulder.

He lets out a long, shaky breath. “We can’t fix it this time.”

“‘fraid not,” she replies with a soft chuckle. Not because it’s funny, but because if she doesn’t laugh, she’ll cry.

“God dammit!” he shouts, hitting the center of the steering wheel, causing Baby to honk.

Y/N flinches, but keeps her hand on his shoulder.

Dean sighs and lets his head fall back, resting on the top of the seat as he fixes his eyes on the car’s ceiling.

“I thought we had more time,” he says, barely audible.

“Yeah, we all did,” she replies with a sad smile.

“No, I mean — I thought we had more time.”

She furrows her eyebrows. “What are you talking about?”

“Us, Y/N. This isn’t how I thought we were gonna go. I thought —”

He stops himself, but she so desperately needs to hear the rest.

“You thought what, Dean?”

He takes a deep breath. Fuck it. The world is ending, right?

“I thought I’d at least get to kiss you before I died. Tell you I’ve been in love with you for the past four years. Settle down one day. White picket fence. Maybe a dog. Get out of this life, start our own.”

He turns his head slightly, his green eyes searching her face for a reaction.

She’s stunned into silence, but then the silence turns to soft laughter, and she’s shaking her head in disbelief while she thinks about what to say.

She settles on, “I can’t believe you waited until the end of the world to tell me you’re in love with me.”

He shrugs and huffs a quiet laugh. “You know I don’t like talking about my feelings.”

She chuckles. “You’re better at it than me, ‘cause I was gonna take my feelings to the grave.”

There’s silence as he processes her reply. His eyes fill with hope as he realizes what she’s saying. “Wait. So you…?”

“Since I’ve known you, you idiot.”

He smiles like the world isn’t ending in a few hours. She kisses him like it is.

TAGLIST(S)

If you signed up for my taglist but don’t see your name below, it’s because Tumblr won’t let me tag you!

FOREVERS: @writercole // @makeadealwithdean // @slamminmine // @impala1967dwinchester // @wayward-dreamer // @stiles-stilinski-24-dylan // @deandreamernp // @kitkatd7 // @thewritersaddictions // @foxyjwls007 // @kyjey // @pizzagirlxoxo // @boeshaneboy // @babypink224221 // @stoneyggirl2 // @440mxs-wife // @sexyvixen7 // @samsgirl93 // @alwayssnivellus // @simpfoegeorge // @ajordan2020

SUPERNATURAL: @deans-baby-momma // @cookiechipdough // @roonyxx // @jassackles // @roseblue373 // @redbarn1995 // @spn-fanfic-reblog-writes

DEAN WINCHESTER: @perpetualabsurdity // @lyarr24 // @siospins2 // @solarrexplosion // @rach5ive // @akshi8278 // @pink-sparkly-witch // @emoryhemsworth // @whore4romance // @themerc-with-a-mouth // @maggiegirl17 // @raajali3 // @adamgetawaydriver // @harleycao

You can join my taglist(s) here!

#dean winchester x reader #dean winchester fanfiction #deanwanddamonsrockflashfic3

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destieltropecollection · 9 months ago

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Destiel Trope Collection 2024 | Day 12: Fake Dating

When You're Lyin' Here in My Arms | @nickelkeep Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 7,240 Main Tags/Warnings: Modern AU, Idiots to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Everyone Thinks They're Together Summary: Cas' twin sibling Hannah is getting married. No big deal, right? But when the invite comes asking who his plus one is, well... Cas knows that it's not a good sign. In a panic, he asks his life-long best friend Dean to pretend to be his boyfriend. There's no way that can go wrong... Right?

A family affair | @milfdean4dilfcas Rating: Explicit Word Count: 7,332 Main Tags/Warnings: idiots in love, fake/pretend relationship, light angst, pining, Post-Episode AU: s15e18 Despair (Supernatural), the finale does not exist in this house, toddler jack kline, Parent Dean Winchester, Parent Castiel (Supernatural), Top Castiel/Bottom Dean Winchester, Dom/sub Undertones, the smut is in the last chapter Summary: When the preschool director mistakes them for a couple, Dean and Cas decide to play along to avoid awkwardness. As they pretend to be a loving pair, they're forced to navigate the challenges of hiding their true feelings from each other. But as they fake romantic gestures and affection, the lines between reality and fantasy start to blur. Will their fake relationship become the catalyst for real feelings, or will it drive them further apart?

Welcome to Pit & Paradise | @seidenapfel Rating: Mature Word Count: 11,193 Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, The Empty deal never happened, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Case Fic, Idiots in Love, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Sharing a Bed, Coming Out, First Kiss, First Time, Top Castiel/Bottom Dean Winchester Summary: When Claire calls, asking for help to hunt a shifter in an LGBT+ resort, Dean and Cas suddenly find themselves as husbands on their honeymoon. Forced to play a couple, Dean and Cas both have to face their hidden dreams and feelings. It’s all fake, or isn’t it?

The Exception to Every Rule | @mittensmorgul Rating: Mature Word Count: 58,784 Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Actor Dean, Bodyguard Castiel, Stalking, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, Sharing a Bed Summary: When Sam was accepted to Stanford, he finally convinced Dean to move to Los Angeles to pursue his acting dreams after sacrificing for four years to support Sam throughout high school. Dean never imagined landing the starring role in a Hollywood blockbuster film franchise, but in just two years he’d gone from obscurity on the Lawrence Community Theater stage to become one of the fastest rising stars in the country. He's adapting pretty well to this new life in the spotlight-- until one unhealthily obsessed fan prompts Dean’s agent to hire a specialist from Seraphim Security to watch over him. Enter Castiel, one of Seraphim’s newest “Angels,” and the only one available to take on Dean’s case a week before Christmas. With Dean’s life on the line, Castiel does his best to maintain a professional distance, but with every passing day they’re both finding themselves making more and more exceptions to their rules.

A Crash Course in Computer Safety | @debatchery Rating: Explicit Word Count: 85,269 Main Tags/Warnings: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Slow Burn, CIA!Cas, nerd!Dean Summary: On the day of his 29th birthday, Dean receives an email from his old nemesis: Michael Milton, the guy who got him kicked out of college and stole his girlfriend. The email contains encoded images with top secret CIA/NSA intelligence – and now their only copy is in Dean’s brain. Both agencies send their best operatives – Castiel Novak and Victor Henriksen respectively – to handle their accidental asset and protect the invaluable data in his head. To justify their sudden appearance in Dean’s life, they adopt covers: Victor as Dean’s new co-worker and neighbor, Cas as his new boyfriend. Needless to say, Dean’s brother and his girlfriend are thrilled to see him in a relationship they believe to be real. Clearly, there’s no way this could go wrong. (NBC’s Chuck AU).

#destiel trope collection #destiel trope collection 2024 #destiel #fanfic #supernatural #fake dating

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carleycore · 7 months ago

Note

Please more “when they try to insult you” with Suga maybe?

When they insult you (Sugawara and Iwaizumi)

a/n yippeee a requesttt!!! I hope it's to your liking.

genre: hurt/comfort angst

part one part two part three part four part five

(not having a job)

The sun is setting outside, casting a warm glow over the living room. You sit on the couch, flipping through job listings on your laptop. The atmosphere is tense, a silence hanging heavily between you and Sugawara. He's been quiet since he got home, and you can feel the weight of unspoken words pressing down on both of you.

"Koushi, how was your day?" you ask, trying to break the silence.

"It was fine," he replies shortly, not looking up from the paperwork he's going through.

You bite your lip, feeling the strain in his voice. "I was thinking about applying to some jobs I found today. What do you think?" You ask, showing him a couple of job listings on your phone.

He finally looks up, his eyes tired and frustrated. "That's great, (Y/N). But honestly, it feels like you've been saying that for a while now."

The words hit you hard. "I'm trying, Koushi. You know how hard it is to find something right now."

He sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I know you're trying, but it's just... It's hard doing everything on my own. I feel like all the financial burden is on me, and it's exhausting."

Your heart sinks, tears welling up in your eyes. "I'm doing my best. It's not like I want to be unemployed. I'm constantly looking for opportunities."

"Sometimes it feels like you're not trying hard enough," he says, his voice rising. "I come home tired every day, and it feels like nothing's changing. I can't do this by myself forever, (Y/N)."

You stand up, your hands shaking. "I'm sorry I'm not finding a job as quickly as you'd like, Koushi. But I'm trying, and it hurts that you think I'm not doing enough."

He opens his mouth to respond but then stops, his expression softening as he sees the pain in your eyes. "I didn't mean it like that, (Y/N). I just... I'm so stressed. It's hard to see a way out sometimes."

You nod, tears spilling down your cheeks. "I understand you're stressed, but taking it out on me isn't fair. We're supposed to support each other."

He steps closer, his face filled with regret. "You're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'm just scared and tired, and I took it out on you. Can you forgive me?"

You wipe your tears away, taking a deep breath. "I can forgive you, Koushi, but we need to communicate better. We're a team, remember?"

He pulls you into a tight embrace, his voice breaking. "I know. I'm so sorry, (Y/N). I love you, and I don't want to hurt you. We'll get through this together."

You hold onto him, feeling the warmth and sincerity in his embrace. "I love you too. We'll find a way. Just promise me you'll talk to me about how you're feeling instead of bottling it up."

He nods, pressing a kiss to your forehead. "I promise. We'll face everything together."

As you stand there, wrapped in each other's arms, the tension begins to melt away, replaced by a renewed sense of closeness and understanding. You know there will be challenges ahead, but as long as you face them together, you'll be okay.

(not being as active????)

The house is quiet, your toddler finally asleep after a long day. You’re in the kitchen, cleaning up the remnants of dinner. Iwaizumi walks in, his face lined with exhaustion. He’s been distant lately, the weight of his responsibilities at work and home pressing heavily on him.

“Hey,” you greet him softly, hoping to ease the tension. “How was your day?”

“Tiring,” he mutters, dropping his gym bag on the floor. “Every day feels the same.”

You nod, understanding his fatigue all too well. “I know it’s hard, Hajime. But we’re getting through it.”

He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Are we? It doesn’t feel like it. It feels like I’m stuck in a rut, and nothing’s changing.”

You swallow, trying to keep your voice steady. “We’re doing the best we can. It’s tough with a toddler, but we’re managing.”

He suddenly turns to you, frustration flashing in his eyes. “You know, I was talking to Oikawa today. His wife still manage to go out, have fun, keep things exciting. But you… you never go out. It’s like you’ve given up.”

The words hit you like a punch to the gut. “What?” you whisper, tears springing to your eyes. “I’m taking care of our child, Hajime. It’s not like I have a lot of free time.”

He rubs his temples, clearly regretting his words but too tired to take them back. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just… I miss how things used to be. Before we had all these responsibilities.”

You take a shaky breath, trying to hold back your tears. “I miss it too. But this is our life now, and we need to support each other. Comparing me to Oikawa’s wife isn’t fair.”

He steps closer, his expression softening. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just so tired and stressed, and I took it out on you. That was wrong.”

You look at him, your heart aching. “I’m tired too, Hajime. But I’m doing my best. We both are.”

He reaches out, pulling you into his arms. “I know. I’m sorry for making you feel like you’re not enough. You’re more than enough, (Y/N). I love you, and I appreciate everything you do for our family.”

You cling to him, tears slipping down your cheeks. “I love you too. Just… please, don’t compare me to others. We’re doing what we can, and that’s enough.”

He nods, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “I promise. We’ll get through this together.”

You rest your head against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. “Maybe we can find a way to make things more exciting, even with our responsibilities,” you suggest softly. “We can plan a date night at home after our little one is asleep, or take turns giving each other a break.”

He smiles, the tension in his shoulders easing. “That sounds like a good idea. I miss spending time with you, just the two of us.”

“Me too,” you agree, feeling a flicker of hope. “We’ll find a balance, Hajime. It won’t always be easy, but we’re in this together.”

He tightens his embrace, his voice filled with determination. “Together. I promise to be more understanding and to communicate better. We’ll make this work.”

As you hold each other, the hurt begins to fade, replaced by a renewed sense of closeness and understanding. You know there will be challenges ahead, but as long as you face them together, you’ll be okay. The future might be uncertain, but with Hajime by your side, you feel ready to take on whatever comes your way.

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #car writes #suga #suga x reader #sugawara koushi #haikyuu sugawara #sugawara kōshi #iwaizumi #iwa x reader #iwaizumi x reader

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literallyjusthereformods · 3 months ago

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Mod folder's cooked still, sharing photos of my sims from my gallery.

Not my preferred method, but I'm dying to share them! So anyways here's a mega photo dump.

Cade E Cherrypop! (Normal/Ruined)

My love for sentient entertainment animatronics is one that will forever remain unshaken. Cade E Cherrypop is the sentient android mascot of Cade E Arcade! (Thx to the new chibi preset by @sdmsims, another little mascot will be along shortly as a friend)

After society collapses due to a zombie-apocalypse-plus, the arcade falls into ruin, and Cade E eventually reawakens in the ruins in her second withered form, sun-bleached, dirty and damaged.

Xelleen Wisher

Xelleen Wisher's a gaming streamer in this world's analog to Twitch! Despite his anxiety disorder, he does his best to put up an optimistic and energetic persona for his audience. He really loves cute things, especially cats and small collectibles! He's also very, very good at videogames, dabbling in speed runs and challenge runs.

Xelleen was created by me as a very positive character. He combines physical traits that are painted as a stereotypical "neckbeard" image (acne, overweightness) with features of the "gamergirl" aesthetic (cute clothes, makeup, lots of pink.) He stands as his own person, defined by neither stereotype.

The bottom/last pic of the three shows his face without his makeup on!!

Steelie Buzzkill

(Wouldn't Be Possible Without @sdmsims's Anime Mod!!!)

Ordered as an Incarnate (an Incarnate is a special type of android commissioned to be a real-word version of a fictional character) of somebody's OC, Steelie's shipment was intercepted after the law recognizing android sentience was passed. His company dumped him and his peers on the side of the road near a rural town.

Since he was freed before artificial memories were programmed into him, he doesn't know what character he's intended to be, and he really doesn't WANT to know.

He works at IHopTopic, the compound store that exists because in this universe, IHop and Hot Topic had some sort of business deal from hell that led to a combined location.

(Between you and me, his design SOMEBODY's fannon ship child OC, but I won't say more than that, nor do the medias his parents are from exist irl.)

The rest will just be character images with short descriptions. I'll likely make individual posts later on going in more depth!!

Torren's a model! He models both clothes and makeup.

Torren's photographer, and general voice of reason. They're bascially buddies.

Aniyo loves hanging out in malls and drawing fanart for their favorite animes. Above all though, they love animals!! Their aspiration is to be a rescue caretaker for animals that need them.

A small trunked rodent I created called a 'rummager.'

It's too bad I'm missing the cc for this one, because I'd love to show their whole design in CAS. I really like this one. They have a lot to do with a certain collapse plotline.

Owner of a tattoo shop. VERY supportive of their artists, and probably one of the best bosses ever.

Tattoo artist working for Crim.

Another one of Crim's hired tattoo artists!

Third tattoo artist out of four in Crim's tattoo shop. (The fourth one's too short to show in gallery, sorry.)

Runaway teen after something really bad happened at home. Navigating the post-collapse hellscape with her horse.

Apex Zombie who's territory spans an entire abandoned city. It's antenna syncs up to the abandoned traffic cams, giving it eyes all over the urban ruins. As a side effect, the old digital billboards flicker to life in monochromatic imagery when it approaches.

@ssspringroll because I definitely used some of your CC in this. Idr where, but I DEFINETELY did. Also, you're one of my favorite creators, thank you for existing <3

#sims 4 #ts4 #simblr #my sims #weird sims #sims 4 screenshots #zombie apocalypse #zombies #androids #animatronics #body posititivity #honestly what else do I tag here lol #sdmsims

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ljblueteak · 1 year ago

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From The Beatles site X

Culver City, CA (February 20th, 2024) -- Today, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), Sam Mendes, and Neal Street Productions announced a groundbreaking creative endeavor to tell the story of The Beatles with four distinct theatrical feature films. The project marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles – Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison – have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.

As conceived by Mendes, who will direct, the four theatrical feature films – one from each band member’s point-of-view – will intersect to tell the astonishing story of the greatest band in history.

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SPE will finance and distribute worldwide with full theatrical windows in 2027. The dating cadence of the films, the details of which will be shared closer to release, will be innovative and groundbreaking.

Mendes will direct all four films and produce alongside his Neal Street Productions partner Pippa Harris and Neal Street’s Julie Pastor. Jeff Jones will executive produce for Apple Corps Ltd.

“I’m honoured to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time, and excited to challenge the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies,” said Sam Mendes.

“We intend this to be a uniquely thrilling, and epic cinematic experience: four films, told from four different perspectives which tell a single story about the most celebrated band of all time,” said Pippa Harris. “To have The Beatles’ and Apple Corps’ blessing to do this is an immense privilege. From our first meeting with Tom Rothman and Elizabeth Gabler, it was clear that they shared both our passion and ambition for this project, and we can’t think of a more perfect home than Sony Pictures.”

“Apple Corps is delighted to collaborate with Sam, Pippa and Julie to explore each Beatle’s unique story and to bring them together in a suitably captivating and innovative way,” said Apple Corps Ltd. CEO Jeff Jones. “Sony Pictures’ enthusiastic support, championing the project’s scope and creative vision from the start, has been invaluable for all of us.”

“I know I speak for our CEO Tony Vinciquerra, who was instrumental in making this happen, and every Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group colleague around the world when I say: ‘yeah, yeah, yeah!’” said Tom Rothman, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group. “Theatrical movie events today must be culturally seismic. Sam’s daring, large-scale idea is that and then some. Pairing his premiere filmmaking team, with the music and the stories of four young men who changed the world, will rock audiences all over the globe. We are deeply grateful to all parties and look forward ourselves to breaking some rules with Sam’s uniquely artistic vision.”

#The Beatles #omg

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onceuponatown · 1 year ago

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The Loomis Radio School, Washington D.C. ca. 1921.

The school was located at 401 Ninth St. N.W. and operated with the call letters 3YA. By 1920 it was offering a six month course enabling the graduate to obtain a first grade commercial radio license and by January of 1922 was offering a four year course with a degree in Radio Engineering bestowed on graduates.

The school was founded by Mary Texanna Loomis, pictured in the last photo.

Born August 18, 1880 near Goliad, Texas. She was the second child born to Alvin Isaac and Caroline (Dryer) Loomis. Though born on homestead in Texas in 1880, by 1883 her parents had returned to Rochester NY and then on to Buffalo where Alvin became president of a large delivery and storage company. Little is known of her early years, but appears she had a fairly middle-class up bringing. She seemed well schooled, with an early interest in music and language (she mastered French, German and Italian) Her early years were spent in Buffalo, NY and she later relocated to Virginia.

During the early years of World War I, she became interested in the new field of wireless telegraphy. There was a family precedent; her cousin, Dr. Mahlon Loomis, had conducted early wireless experiments with moderate success and may in fact have been the first person, in 1865, to send and receive wireless signals.

Mary soon became proficient enough in wireless telegraphy to be granted a license by the United States Department of Commerce. Thoroughly fascinated with the field now called “radio”, she decided to turn her expertise into a career. Also, she wanted to do something that would honor her pioneering ancestor. Her idea was to do this by founding a radio school.

Though radio was indeed, for many years, a profession dominated by men, Mary Loomis around age 40 took no notice and in 1920 founded the Loomis Radio School in Washington, D.C. and it quickly gained an excellent reputation. Ms. Loomis set high standards for the school and it attracted students not only from the United States but Europe and Asia as well. Loomis enjoyed teaching as much as she enjoyed radio itself. In an interview, she said, “Really, I am so infatuated with my work that I delight in spending from 12 to 15 hours a day at it. My whole heart and soul are in this radio school.”

As president and Lecturer of the Loomis Radio School, Mary authored a definitive book on radio, named “Radio Theory and Operating.”

By January 1922 the school was offering a four year course with a degree in Radio Engineering bestowed on graduates. Loomis also intended that her students understand more than just the inner and outer workings of radio. In addition to a radio laboratory (with equipment constructed almost entirely by Mary herself), the school maintained a complete shop capable of teaching carpentry, drafting and basic electricity. She reasoned that many of her graduates might find themselves at sea, or in other challenging situations and she wanted them adequately prepared. “No man,” Ms. Loomis said, at the time, “can graduate from my school until he learns how to make any part of the apparatus. I give him a blueprint of what I want him to do and tell him to go into the shop and keep hammering away until the job is completed.”

The school appears to have been in existence at least through the early 1930's, but it has not been possible to find information after that.

In an interview given to H.O. Bishop of the Dearborn Independent in 1921, Mary was asked: “What sort of young men are taking up the radio profession?” to which she replied:

“The Kind who have grit and want to get there! Virtually all of them are ambitious and enthusiastic over the possibility of visiting every nook and corner of the world. My students are not only enrolled from various sections of the USA and Canada but from many foreign countries, such as Sweden, Ireland, England, Poland, Russia, Austria, Rumania and the Philippines. One of the brightest pupils I ever had was Prince Walimuhomed of Far-away Afghanistan. He was an extremely modest young man, keeping his real identity a secret until after graduating. He said he had no idea of earning his living by working at radio, but just wanted to know all about it. He does.You have no idea how much happiness I get out of the success of each individual graduate. My boys keep in touch with me from all parts of the world. Scarcely a day goes by that I do not get some trinket or postcard from some remote section of the world. I have made the wonderful discovery that the only way for me to get happiness for myself is to make some one else happy. I find that I am making these young men happy by teaching them every phase of the radio business so that they can earn a comfortable living for themselves and their dependents and at the same time, see the great big beautiful world.

As far as we can figure out, Mary Loomis left Washington D.C. around 1935 and moved to San Francisco where she worked as a stenographer. She died in 1960 and is interred at Woodlawn Memorial Park, Colma, CA.

Source

#radio history #radio #women's history #loomis #washington dc

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monstersandmaw · 1 year ago

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Laces for a Lady - 18th century, poly, shifters x human romance - Chapter Seven (sfw)

Disclaimer which I’m including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me.

Contents: some passing comments comparing two different female body types in a negative way, and some measurement taking and a dress fitting that leaves Nel a little breathless. Who knew Mr. Nancarrow had it in him to be so smooth. Mr. Darcy hand-flex fans, be warned...

Wordcount: 3931

Catch up here: Part One (sfw), Part Two (sfw), Part Three (sfw), Part Four (sfw), Part Five (sfw), Part Six (sfw)

Edmund flushed at Nel’s boldly obvious compliment, but was saved any further embarrassment by Mr. Fordyce announcing that it was Nel’s turn, and that he would have to take Nel’s measurements since he didn’t have them in his records as he did Winnie’s.

This time it was Nel whose face turned hot, but she met Edmund’s gaze again as he stepped forwards, rested his cane against the nearby table gently enough not to cause the arrangement of dried flowers in the centre even to quiver, and then he carefully passed the ribbon of paper around her waist. He kept his eyes down, but his long, delicate fingers moved with nimble grace as he held the paper and snipped the tailor’s marks in it which would correspond to the various locations of the measurements.

“And now inhale,” he murmured, and she obliged, letting her ribs inflate naturally. She could feel his knuckles pressing ever so slightly against her body through the fabric of the thinner, less structured dress she’d chosen for that day, and she tried not to shiver.

They had begun at her waist, but a moment later she found herself scowling at Mr. Fordyce when he made Edmund kneel down on the hard wooden floorboards to measure the length of her leg.

Edmund got down alright, if stiffly, but he gasped and sucked in a sharp breath as he pushed himself upright with his cane, and he went rigid with another sudden inhale, eyes screwed shut and head bowed forwards as he breathed through a stab of pain. For a lurching moment when he raised his head again she thought he was going to pass out as all the colour drained from his face.

Clearly mortified, he looked like he was going to struggle through it despite the fact that he seemed to have been robbed of his faculties for a moment, but Nel abruptly turned to Mr. Fordyce and made a calculated assumption about the egotistical, self-important little man. "It must be such work for you to keep up with constantly changing fashions when you’re so far from Town here in Polgarrack," Nel said, and Mr. Fordyce immediately puffed up like a show pigeon under scrutiny, and graced her with a condescending smile.

"Oh, indeed, Miss Bywater, it is certainly not without its challenges. But!” he went on, brandishing his forefinger in the air as if lecturing a small and rather resentful child, “A successful tailor must be a true artist, and he must find something new and extraordinary at every turn for his patrons. So, I do make frequent journeys to Town to make my observations. That way, you see, the nobility situated further from Town are still provided with the very latest in taste and elegance without the inconvenience of a journey so long and arduous."

He pursed his wet lips and then went on while Edmund's face was a blank, porcelain mask of pain beside her, his shoulders turned slightly to hide his face from Mr. Fordyce who was currently standing perched on a small footstool near the window for a vantage point to ‘better view the proportions of the lady for whom he would have to work a miracle’. Or so he claimed. Nel just thought he felt short and didn't like pontificating at someone who was taller than him, even if only by an inch or two.

She tried not to let her face show her distaste at the master tailor’s outrageously overblown opinion of himself, but in this case, it was buying Edmund time to recover. “What a sacrifice you make for your art,” she said flatly, and he missed the sarcasm entirely.

"Indeed. A tailor ought to have a quick eye; to steal the very cut of a sleeve in passing at the merest of glances, Miss Bywater,” he intoned in an almost sing-song voice, conspiratorially leaning a little closer from his little footstool. She hoped he toppled off it. “Any common bungler may cut out a shape when he has the pattern on the table before him, but a good workman will take it by his eye in the merest passing of a carriage…" He flourished his hand as if he’d magicked something spectacular into existence at that very moment. All she saw was spittle and hot air.

"Extraordinary indeed," she said blandly, studiously keeping her eyes off Mr. Nancarrow while trying to gauge whether it was necessary to indulge Mr. Fordyce's nauseating pomposity any further. He still looked like he might appreciate a few minutes more, so she pulled out a rather higher card from her metaphorical hand. "You must truly be a master of your craft then, Mr. Fordyce, if the rose-petal gown you made for Lady Penrose's birthday in August is anything to judge. Truly, I had never seen its like before, not even when I attended the Russells’ Christmas Ball with Lord and Lady Mercer and their son last year in London." She wondered if she’d taken her flattery a step too far with that last, but he drank it up like sweet summer wine.

His watery eyes lit up at the mention of Lord and Lady Russell’s exclusive gathering, and, as she had suspected, Nel rose just a fraction in his estimation by mentioning such connections. Not that she gave a single one of Old Flint’s trumpeting farts what this man thought of her and her station in Society, but it was buying Edmund time, and he seemed to be breathing a little easier now.

"Oh," Fordyce said in a different voice, simpering just a little. “The… The Russells’ Christmas Ball? And… Lord and Lady Mercer you say?” His eyes practically glinted. “Their young son is a most eligible bachelor, I believe,” he said, apparently unaware of the impudence of such a comment. “And you were with them in Town?”

She nodded. “They’re close family friends.” Never mind that said eligible bachelor had spent the majority of that particular night scandalously secreted away in an upstairs bedroom with an Admiral’s nephew when he’d promised to dance with Nel instead. The cad, she thought with a fond and barely-disguised smile. She knew William would get a good laugh out of hearing all about the ridiculous Mr. Fordyce, and she made a note to herself to include an account of this exchange in the letter she’d intended to pen to him that afternoon.

"Yes, well, the gown I made for Lady Penrose’s birthday is one of my finer pieces, I’ll admit,” Mr. Fordyce blustered, returning to her original compliment. “Perhaps a little too fine for someone of your particular… stature," he added with a vague gesture at her figure, and she bit back a sudden, wild urge to laugh indecorously. "The young Lady Penrose does have such exceptionally delicate wrists, after all," he said, and consulted his notes rather ostentatiously and unnecessarily in order to add, "And such a minuscule waist. Still, a tailor such as I must be able to cut out not only for the handsome and well shaped, but to bestow a good shape where nature has not designed it quite so to suit the fashions of the day."

If Nel hadn't been keeping half an eye on Edmund, who now looked far more horrified by his master's words than by his own physical discomfort, she might have taken offence, but what a conceited little man like Fordyce thought of the proportions of her waist was of relatively little importance to her in the grander scheme of things. If Will had been in the room, she’d have met his eye and the two would have dissolved into uncontrollable hysterics.

All that mattered now though was that her plan to distract the master tailor for a time had worked. Stoking the already puffed-up man’s ego had kept him occupied long enough that whatever pain had been exacerbated by being forced to bend Edmund’s bad knee to the hard floorboards had dissipated back to something more manageable, and a minute later, he very lightly touched Nel at her elbow as he moved around her on the pretence of taking another measurement.

‘Thank you’, he mouthed, blinking rapidly and barely meeting her gaze. He was still the colour of fresh parchment, but he was no longer clenching his teeth like he thought he might be sick. She hoped she hadn’t embarrassed him by acting so presumptuously.

“Forgive me, Mr. Fordyce,” she smiled sweetly to the older man. “I do believe I interrupted the proceedings with my questions.”

“Oh, yes,” the man chirped, blinking like an owl surprised by the arrival of daylight. He’d clearly not noticed at all. “Yes. Well, if you could hold out your arms while Mr. Nancarrow passes the tape around your chest.”

Her heart skipped a beat at that, and while Edmund was methodical and nothing but proper, he did let his dark eyes flick briefly to her face as he closed the tape snugly around her breasts. Her breath caught. Beneath the fabric of her dress, she felt her nipples tighten and she licked her lower lip just a little, sinking her teeth in before resuming a perfectly blank expression. Never in her life had she been touched like that by a man. Her previous mantua maker in Sussex had been a woman after all, as would have been the case here, had Winnie’s not recently relocated.

If Edmund’s gaze had dropped to her mouth for the briefest of moments, she pretended not to have noticed, nor to wonder what it might mean, if anything.

“Inhale again,” Edmund said in a low, sweet voice, his eyes flicking fleetingly back up to her eyes.

Slowly, she obliged and felt the paper tape stretch taut against her bodice as her breasts lifted with her breath. She felt the tension go out of the line as he let the paper slide between his fingertips to measure the slack. All the while, his hands remained steady as a surgeon’s, and she tried not to stare at the elegance of his long fingers where they held the paper securely against her chest in order to snip more little cuts in the paper to mark the dimensions.

“Exhale,” he whispered, and she did, shakily. “Thank you, Miss Bywater.”

“Nel,” she whispered back, but he only inclined his head in a way that said he could, regrettably, never call her something so familiar in such a charged setting. She didn’t know whether to be flattered or frustrated, and found herself oscillating between the two.

Then the moment ended and she almost swayed.

Edmund stepped back, dropped his eyes, and crossed the room to hand Mr. Fordyce the tape. Its coded marks at various lengths indicated that the full set of measurements had been taken, and that the appointment was drawing to a close.

Mr. Fordyce let his eyes flick along the length of it — no doubt noting all the places where her circumference was less elegant than Winnie’s — and folded it carefully up into an envelope. “My thanks, Miss Bywater. I think we can make something with that. Come, Mr. Nancarrow. We must leave these elegant ladies in peace to begin our work.”

Winnie, who had been sitting quietly in the corner of the room the whole time and pretending to work on her embroidery, rose gracefully and thanked Mr. Fordyce with just a little hint of frost in her usually sweet tone, and said that she looked forward to seeing their creations soon.

“I shall work on your dress personally,” Mr. Fordyce said as he bowed over Winnie’s hand. Nel thought that, given half the chance, he might just slobber all over it for the honour of sampling her ‘delicate wrists’ again, and shuddered. Winnie withdrew her hand almost immediately.

The way he had worded his comment though made Nel wonder if that meant that Edmund was going to make her dress, and her eyes darted questioningly to him.

He was watching her, and one corner of his lips lifted.

That was all, but in that moment, she knew it would be the case. His hands would have touched every inch of the dress she would wear to the ball in Plymouth, and her heart skipped and soared as if she would feel the ghost of his touch when she wore the dress itself. In a way, he would be closer to her that night than any man would even if she danced with them, because the fabric would rest against her very skin. Well, against her chemise and stays, but still, it was closer than any other man would get. Her core heated at the thought and she hoped her face didn’t betray her as the gentlemen bowed and left.

In the silence of their departure, Winnie arched an eyebrow at Nel. “Well, that was an interesting morning,” she said.

“Indeed,” Nel replied carefully.

“Since the ball is only a couple of months away, you must learn to dance properly,” Winnie added as she crossed to the window and watched their small carriage draw away from the front of the house. The shapes were made a dark blur by the rain. “I’ll teach you myself.”

“And what if I have no intention of dancing?”

Her chest still felt tight and her lungs seemed full of sea foam after Edmund had touched her, and imagined she could feel the warmth of his hands lingering through the fabric of her dress. It was most distracting.

“And I do know how to dance,” she added petulantly as she flopped into the other chair by the fire and picked up her own embroidery hoop, scowling at the wonky patterns on it. Had that been a strawberry or a carrot she’d been working on? “It was the local dances at the harvest celebrations that left me stumped. I can dance a passable minuet or quadrille as well as the next country gentleman’s daughter. I just choose not to.”

“You cannot sit the whole ball out and refuse to dance,” Winnie groaned, turning back to face her. “You’ll draw attention to yourself.” And, by extension, she might embarrass the Lady Winnifred Penrose.

“I’ll draw more attention to myself by dancing,” Nel said with a sullen expression as she began to pick rather savagely at her lumpy embroidery with a tiny pair of scissors. Lord, what if Edmund had happened to see it? He’d have thought it was the work of a small child with a knitting needle and ball of garden twine. “It’ll be like watching a bear in a skirt,” she muttered glumly.

Winnie snorted an extremely undignified laugh into her hand, and the two women promptly dissolved into giggles. “I’ll remind you of that when we’re at the ball,” Winnie snickered.

“Oh you’d better not,” Nel groaned. “If I get the giggles in public, it’s uncontrollable, and it’s even worse when it’s a formal setting.”

“You managed fairly well at the Lammas Dance when Old Flint did his best to reduce everyone to hysterics.”

That just brought back memories of meeting Edmund’s dark eyes again, and the feel of Locryn’s huge, rough palms against hers, and clamping around her waist, lifting her high and laughing in his rich, gruff bass as he turned her, and then of her crushing idiocy in almost letting herself kiss the man in public and in front of his lover. No matter that Edmund had said all was forgiven and forgotten; she would never erase that night from her mind.

When the gowns had been made, Mr. Fordyce returned with Edmund for a final fitting in late November, and Nel tried to ignore the odd fluttering in her stomach at the thought of Mr. Nancarrow seeing her in something that was not only a lot finer than her usual redingote dresses, but in something which he himself had made to fit her body.

As Winnie’s maid helped her into it upstairs, while Winnie was downstairs having any final alterations noted, Nel silently scolded herself. ‘Edmund Nancarrow is not going to look at you with even the faintest whiff of interest beyond that of a professional tailor doing his job. Mr. Nancarrow, like Will, is only interested in men’. The memory of the heat in his eyes made her assertions fracture and crumble like fragile cliffs into the insistent sea below. Mr. Nancarrow was probably not only interested in men, but she could tell herself that for the time being all the same.

With her expression set in a rather sour grimace, she thanked Liddy and walked towards the staircase which would lead her down to the drawing room.

The dress was really lovely, and although it wasn’t nearly as complicated and showy as Winnifred's, it had its own elegance and richness that Nel loved more than Winnie’s. The fabric was a warm, green silk damask that shone in the light like a cut and polished emerald, with peonies and curled leaves and fruits shimmering subtly like frost on a windowpane. The sleeves ended just below her elbow in a soft spray of intricate white lace, and there was a small trim of lace around the low, square neckline that was so delicate and fine, it reminded her of the patterns of sparkling sea foam on the sand. The bodice snugged in around the waist, and fastened almost invisibly up the front in a series of minuscule, gold hooks and eyes, while the skirts fell away in a fountain of heavy, forest green fabric to the floor. It would be finished with a delicate, muslin scarf around her shoulders, secured with a silk peony. There were even matching shoes, which were surprisingly easy on the feet, even if the heel was a little higher than those she was used to.

Nel actually felt comfortable in herself as she moved about in it, which she rarely did when dressing up for dances, and she tried to draw on that confidence as she descended the stairs carefully, one hand on the bannister in case she stumbled.

She met Winnie just coming out from her fitting, wearing her own, cream and peach confection which she somehow managed to make look spectacular. Nel was sure that she would have looked like an upturned peach cobbler if she’d put that on.

Her friend paused in the doorway when she saw her and gasped. “Nel!” she cried out. “Oh you look beautiful. The fit is perfect! And that colour! Why, I declare that the all gentry of Wessex will be prostrating themselves at your feet!”

Nel shook her head with a little blush, a dark curl escaping from the tight arrangement pinned at the back of her head above the collar and out of the way of the tailors’ fingers, and she continued down the stairs.

“Lady Winnifred,” came Mr. Nancarrow’s warm tenor from the other side of the doorway into the drawing room. “Forgive me, but you dropped —”

He stepped across the threshold and into sight, holding a muslin kerchief between the slender fingers of his right hand, but he looked over to his left and caught sight of Nel on the staircase.

The kerchief fluttered forgotten to the floorboards.

His lips parted and she watched him inhale slowly.

No, Mr. Nancarrow was most definitely not only interested in men.

There was no way Nel could still try to believe it after seeing that expression on his face, and she tried to hide a smile.

Winnie turned to glance at him and artfully hid her own little smile before dropping easily to retrieve the abandoned kerchief. She rose and leaned fleetingly in to whisper something in Mr. Nancarrow’s ear before flitting back towards the foot of the stairs just as Nel reached the last step.

Edmund immediately turned red from his collar to his ears, and swallowed visibly. He shot Nel one last glance and ducked back into the drawing room without a word.

Nel raised an eyebrow. “What did you say to him?”

Winnie just squeezed her shoulder. “Prostrating,” she whispered with feeling, and flitted away upstairs like one of the Fair Folk.

When Nel entered the drawing room, Edmund was standing beside Mr. Fordyce with his eyes on the floor and a lingering warmth to his face, but as she crossed to them and Mr. Fordyce declared that the creation was truly a triumph, Mr. Nancarrow raised his dark eyes at last and offered her a very small smile and a single, slow nod.

That one, gentle expression from him was more affirmation than any amount of twittering drivel from Mr. Fordyce as he paced around her and appraised her like an expensive piece of Wedgewood pottery on a plinth.

She watched Edmund take a step away from Mr. Fordyce as the man trotted around behind her and then went back towards the window to leave Edmund to make any adjustments, since he had been the one to make the dress and not Fordyce himself.

Edmund’s dark cane made a now-familiar clunk on the floorboards, and it sounded unusually loud to her while all the other sounds in the room seemed to fade.

“If I may?” he said to her in a soft undertone while the master tailor paced about near the window, utterly absorbed in the sound of his own voice. Nel had no idea what he was saying or if it was even addressed to her.

Edmund’s dark gaze had snagged momentarily at a piece of lace trim around the neck of her gown and he gestured towards it.

She glanced down and saw the problem, and then nodded.

“Of course,” she whispered, tilting her head a little in the opposite direction. It exposed her throat and collarbones, and gave him all the access he would need to free the lace from where it was folded over on itself. Her heart was beating like a trapped bird in her throat and she was sure that Edmund would see it thudding frantically against her skin.

And while Fordyce blathered on to his own reflection in the window about the fact that the cut of the dress and the padding were more important than the underlying body, and how his assistant had clearly understood this when making the patterns for the dress from Nel’s measurements, Edmund slid his fingertips carefully against the exposed skin of her chest.

Goosebumps prickled to life in their trailing wake.

Her breath hitched and she tried not to gasp.

Gently, he withdrew the tiny fold of lace that had been tucked under between the neckline of her bodice and her skin, and smoothed it flat again with his fingertips.

Nel exhaled shakily, angled a little away from him. If she’d had to look at him in that moment, she wasn’t sure she could have weathered the heat in his dark brown eyes. Her whole body thrummed like the rigging of a ship in a gale, and if he kept it up much longer, she would founder on the shore.

Wearing the dress he had made — had touched in every stitch and hem and seam — Nel did feel as though his hands were on her already, around her waist, on her hips, her shoulders, the small of her spine. There wasn’t a part of her that wasn’t prickling.

His knuckles brushed her collarbones as he withdrew his touch. Nel ached all over for him to linger, but he didn’t, and when he was done, he took half a step back and smiled.

“Perfect,” he breathed, meeting her gaze directly.

___

Nel's dress, for those interested. It's a little early for the period, but shhh. It's gorgeous.

I hope you’re still enjoying it, and I hope you’ll consider reblogging as well as leaving a like if you enjoyed it. Take care of yourselves, and I hope you have a lovely day/night wherever you are, and whenever you read this.

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#laces for a lady #i'm flyign out the door as i post this and i'm so late but HERE IT IS I HOPE YOU LIKE IT THANK YOU FOR YOUR ENTHUSIASM SO FAR #I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS CHAPTER #lemme know about mistakes and i'll fix them when i get back later

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