#Tarva Gets Me

[cultivating-wildflowers]

heeheehee etc

life is second-hand crummy today, but there are small joys. like a friend sketching the friend group in medieval garb. and fat bear jr coming up next week. and me only needing to pick up one ingredient for mud cake.

[purplebehittindifferent]

Me and the besties getting ready to play the blocking dead

( Tarva and mootools 💜💜💜)

[frodo-with-glasses]

Discord Highlights: The Fellowship of the Dudes

[4/28/23]

InvisibleWashboard:

I have a head canon that one of Merry's sons in particular had to be taught to swim early because the kid was OBSESSED with any and all things to do with water. Estella was afraid to ever let him out of her sight for fear he would end up drowned before he could even walk.

meg is me:

Imagine merry desires his kids to be Equestrians and good old Stybba bears many a baby Brandybuck rider To Merry's dismay bby Eomer HATES ponies

InvisibleWashboard:

Eomer is the son that loves the water in my head.

[4/29/23]

Writing Valkyrie:

I was thinking last night, and I'd like to think that surfing was big in Numenor. Elros and his Queen made it a family tradition, and the whole populace really took to it. It died off a bit with the King's Men, deeming it not worth their time, something only the Faithful indulged in. Now adays, it only survives in Dol Amroth. And can be found in Alqualondë It took Thorongil some time to learn it, but once he did, Prince Imrahil never beat him again.

On the first diplomatic trip the High King makes to Dol Amroth, Imrahil demands a rematch. "Lets get barreled, dude!" -Imrahil (probably) "Yeah, dude, lets go shred some waves!" Aragorn (also probably) "Don't forget to reapply your sun balm." -Arwen (definitely)

Rumor has it, that the King is set to take the title of "Surf Champion" from the previous master, Thorongil.

InvisibleWashboard:

Someone who can draw please draw Aragorn as a surfer dude, I am begging.

Writing Valkyrie:

Shaka sign and everything.

InvisibleWashboard:

Does Arwen participate/get good at it? I feel like Legolas would be decent when he comes to visit.

Writing Valkyrie:

She'd be very graceful at it, and soon comes to surpass her husband.

InvisibleWashboard:

Mmmm. Yes. Very good.

Writing Valkyrie:

Legolas would just do handstands on the board. Or shoot targets while shredding the waves.

InvisibleWashboard:

I like the idea of him showing off with handstands. I know canonically he doesn’t have siblings but he has SUCH youngest sibling energy and handstands on the board is very much a youngest brother thing, I think.

Writing Valkyrie:

He can even do 'em one handed "Look ada!" The Good Surfer gene runs in the Olwë/Elwë bloodline.

Gimli would just like to enjoy the sunshine, thank you very much.

InvisibleWashboard:

Who else gives it a go? Faramir? Eowyn? Would Boromir from the Boromir Lives comic have tried?

I’m obsessed with this idea now.

Writing Valkyrie:

Boromir would give it a try, but he'd surf like the old timers that just kinda stand and just ride it out.

Eowyn and Faramir would boogey-board.

Lothiriel is a pro at surfing. Eomer would like nothing with that thank you very much, but he will just get in the water and float a bit.

Imrahil kinda hopes that [Lothiriel would] surpass Aragorn, but she just enjoys it for the fun of it and not competition. Though if she did compete, everyone better watch out.

Elrond and Celebrian get into it a bit after Elrond sails, due to 1) Elros did it, 2) Arwen and Aragorn did it, and 3) Elladan and Elrohir enjoy it.

Though they steer clear of Galadriel, 'cause she absolutely shreds them waves.

Celeborn just like his floaties, thanks.

InvisibleWashboard:

Celeborn is such a trophy husband. I love him.

Writing Valkyrie:

Finrod thinks it's neat, and is the best at getting barreled.

But yes, surfing picks up again in the fourth age, and becomes a tradition of the royal families, that unites them all.

Me:

I haven’t read the Silmarillion, but based on Tarva’s comics, Finrod gives me such strong surfer dude vibes.

Writing Valkyrie:

I haven't read it yet, either, but maybe we're onto something. 😂 I mean, they did grow up on the beach. You can't tell me Earwen and Grandpa Olwe didn't teach the kids about the beach and the ocean.

Gandalf would do it sometimes, but he'd just stand on the board as if on dry land, staff and everything, riding it like it was a segway.

InvisibleWashboard:

Not to bring up stuff from yesterday, but Merry brings his family to visit and water obsessed Éomer is losing his mind over the surfing and wants to figure out a way to do something similar back in the Shire.

meg is me:

pippin is canonically good at balancing just throwing that out there

Writing Valkyrie:

He'd be good at it, but he'd ride goofy-footed.

ladyofgifts:

what if he's better at it than Merry so whenever they visit, Eomer sticks to him for the whole time going this is my Favorite Uncle

InvisibleWashboard:

Yes. So much yes.

meg is me:

Merry: gasp how rude eomer: dad you aren't my uncle Merry: i know but still

Me: (re: surfing in the Shire)

Hmm…okay, no way they’re gonna have wind strong enough to make waves on the Brandywine, but if they can get a dinghy going fast enough on a brisk day, they might be able to water ski! X-D

InvisibleWashboard:

Estella would hate that. So much. Merry would think it's great though.

Me:

If you’re ever lacking wind, you can always compensate by tying the prow to two ponies, one on either bank, on a narrow stretch of the river 🤣🤣

InvisibleWashboard:

What I'm picturing now is a bit closer to what I grew up doing with my brothers... if it got really muddy, we would tie a skimboard to the back of a four wheeler and ride/pull each other around on that. I could see little hobbits trying something similar with their ponies.

Me:

Oh the mess it would make. But how fun!

InvisibleWashboard:

Oh yes, so much dirt in places dirt is not supposed to be!

Me:

All I’m hearing is that Eomer Brandybuck is the first hobbit to move to Dol Amroth. Ostensibly it’s to be an ambassador on behalf of the Shire, but in actuality, it’s for the waves, bro.

InvisibleWashboard:

I'M OBSESSED.

Me:

Tolkien: Hobbits, as a rule, hate the water. Us: So this is our OC Eomer Brandybuck, he’s a hobbit surfer bro

chaosandwhatnot:

"this sign can't stop me because i can't read"

InvisibleWashboard:

No, you don't understand... Eomer wasn't even one of Merry's OC kids I was that interested in, but NOW...

Wait does he move out there by himself or does he have a family he brings with him? Does he form a small hobbit community outside of the Shire by doing this or does he just stay single forever because his heart only belongs to the sea?

Me:

“His heart only belongs to the Sea” sounds so beautiful and poetic and Tolkien-esque until we add the clarification “by that we mean he just really, really loves to surf”

Writing Valkyrie:

I'd love to say that he has a small family when he moves down there, along with some other like-minded hobbits, but I'd think that he'd also teach others, hobbit and non-hobbit, to surf, regardless if he's alone or not.

Kasey Gondor:

forms a community of inter-racial surfing enthusiasts. after Legolas leaves Ithilien some of the elves that were there join up. we'll get some dwarves down there too. everyone just intermingles. here we are not hobbits or men or elves or dwarves. but dudes. surfing dudes.

meg is me:

The Fellowship of the Dudes The other fellowship was male of course but not all of them were Dudes

Writing Valkyrie:

Come to Gondor, we have surfing. 🤣 And thus, peace was established with Harad, Khand, and Rhun.

Morgoth cannot surf. Evil does not like water -> They will not come to the ocean -> Cannot surf.

meg is me:

Truer words have never been spoken

[4/30/23]

Me:

InvisibleWashboard I believe you requested this yesterday X-D

InvisibleWashboard:

This is perfection. Thank you.

Writing Valkyrie is @writingvalkyrie, InvisibleWashboard is @invisiblewashboard, chaosandwhatnot is @grondds-and-roses, Kasey Gondor is @captaingondor, ladyofgifts is our beloved Zara, and meg is me does not have tumblr :-3

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Rage Fire Institution

Accelerating. 36.

Maki was now officially in training mode. 4:30 am starts in bitter cold weather seemed cruel. Tatsumi was cruel. Maki had been nervous to see Tatsumi again once his fever finally cleared and he was up for piloting again, but it seemed all for naught once Tatsumi started excitedly explaining his training plan for the next month. Wake up, run 5kms, shower, breakfast, mod training, lunch, TC training, dinner, homework, collapse into bed. Not only did he have mech training, he had hand to hand training with Anthony and Stella, sometimes Tatsumi when he felt like it. Tatsumi was a firm and fair teacher, but he’d never imagine him standing there channeling Skylark and pushing Maki to the point he didn’t know up from down.

“Oi, turn your fucking alarm off and get the fuck up! You’ve got a competition to win, fuckwit”

With such motivation words from Tarva, Maki dragged himself out of bed. He’d been questioned endlessly by his roommates once his name was known across campus as a competitor. Strangers seemed to think it also gave them permission to come up to him and start questioning him about the competition. Maki loathed the extra attention and wished he could stick them in his shoes for a day and so they could see if it was as fun as they seemed to think it was. And it wasn’t his fellow students making a fuss, it was his sister. Mina called him every day once her classes were finished. Maki had been embarrassed at first, teased when he’d duck off to talk to her, before Tatsumi stepped in, and now his whole team had talked to his sister.

Dressing for his daily dose of torture, it was bucketing down with rain by the time Maki made it to the dorm doors. Waiting outside, Tatsumi wielded an umbrella. Any hopes of returning to his warm bed were dashed, the alpha letting himself out to join his friend in the misery

“We’re running in this?”

“Fuck no. Come on, my shoes are already soaked. We’re headed to the gym”

Making a break for the gym turned into a silent competition between them. Maki winning, but that was because he had boots compared to Tatsumi’s trainers. Letting them in, the lights were on and so was the heating. His friend prepared ahead of time

“Shit, this is more like it. I thought my balls were going to freeze off out there”

Tatsumi gave a laugh, toeing off his wet shoes to leave them by the door. Maki noticing he’d skipped his socks, so running couldn’t be on the plans for them

“We can’t have that. And don’t go thanking me just yet. We’ve got a job to do before we can train today”

“Why don’t I like the sound of that?”

“Because you know me too well. In the military they’d throw you out in that weather, but today, we’re getting in touch with your creative side”

Maki gave a snort. He didn’t have a creative side, outside of mech paint. His mech had taken his breath away when he’d seen it in its freshly painted glory. At first came the disappointment with its orange and white exterior, until he remembered what would happen when he activated it. It looked completely beastly and terrifying in its black coat, everything he’d hoped it could be

“I don’t have one”

“Don’t tell me that. Come on, we need to get started or it won’t be done by breakfast”

Maki’s stomach gave a loud rumble. Being an alpha meant he usually consumed a high calorie diet thanks to his dynamic. Tatsumi could eat like an alpha, but Maki found he still ate far more. His friend shaking his head at him, starting to lead the way into the control room

“That’s forcing my hand. Fine, food first, then work”

“You got us food?”

“Of course. I knew we couldn’t go jogging when I saw the weather forecast for this morning. I did consider making you run laps, but I’ve got something planned for today so this needs to come first”

Opening the door to the control room, Tatsumi had been busy. Bagels, coffee, buckets of paint, brushes, and long thick canvas laid in wait. Maki had a sinking feeling

“Don’t tell me…”

Beaming at him, the omega nodded as he patted the roll of canvas

“Our banners came. We’ll be painting them today. I already confirmed with Li that he and his cheer team will come at 7, so will the research team, as well as Stella and Anthony. Plus a few more guests after lunch. We had the lettering outline professionally printed, but I felt for something like this, it’d be more fun to let everyone decorate their hopes and dreams”

Maki was not a painting person. Try as he might, the line always seemed to move after he’d painted. He and painting were mortal enemies

“No offence, I would rather run laps”

“Where’s your school spirit?”

“In bed, where we should be. I’m no artist”

Tatsumi blew a raspberry at him

“Bah. It’ll be fun. Andes gave us the floor for today seeing we couldn’t do this outside. My aim is to get this done before lunch. And I’ve got another surprise for you”

“I don’t think I want it”

“Fine, but I think you’ll love it when you see it. If you want to get started eating, I’ll carry this out”

The roll of canvas looked heavy, and not to step on Tatsumi’s strength, Maki didn’t want his friend struggling alone. Breakfast wouldn’t taste as good with Tatsumi’s huffing and puffing

“I’ll help you carry it out. Breakfast better be worth all this”

Beaming at his complaining, Tatsumi patted the pile of canvas again

“Excellent, my manipulation worked. Honestly, this shit is heavy. I’m glad we won’t have to carry all of it around everyday”

He’d been had. There he was thinking of Tatsumi and Tatsumi was already three moves ahead

“You’re an arsehole. I hope you know how disappointed your grandson is”

“As long as he doesn’t hate me. Grab the other end, we’ll figure them out once they’re rolled out. There’s something good waiting inside”

“Unless it’s my bed, you’re lying”

Tatsumi teased him, tone as if taking to a small child instead of a full grown alpha

“Does my poor little man need a nap?”

Maki deadpanned his friend back. There were seven hours left until lunch and no nap time in sight. Yes. He needed a nap. He needed a nap in his warm bed

“Yes”

Tatsumi snorted. Maki was more than relieved that they’d been able to keep being friends as if nothing had happened. Plus, maybe if there were enough of them then they wouldn’t notice if he slipped off for a small nap. His friend lifting his end of the canvas

“Aw, I promise you an early night tonight. Today is all about fun”

“Maybe for you. I can’t paint for shit”

“Ah, but you will and you will like it. Come on, get those alpha muscles moving”

“You get yours moving. How are you so happy? It’s cold, raining, and we’re painting”

“You’ll find out this afternoon… and I may not have slept. Lets goooooo. Double time!”

Carrying the canvases out to the gym, when Tatsumi let his end drop, Maki did the same. His friend should have slept. Under the light of the control room, versus how Tatsumi looked under the gym lighting, the man really didn’t look terribly well. Maki making a mental note to keep checking on him during the day as the last thing they needed was Tatsumi collapsing because his training program was too much. As Tatsumi went to move to unroll the canvases, Maki stepped I

“Move, I’ll do it. You said there was something good in here, right?”

“Yep. If possible I want to get it out and organised before everyone else shows up”

“You’re not going to give me any kind of clue are you?”

Tatsumi shook his head, covering his smile with his hand. Maki wished he’d stop doing that as if he had something to be embarrassed about, nothing embarrassing counted when it was only the two of them alone

“Nope. If you can’t figure it out from all the clues you have, then I’m not helping you with the one”

Maki rolled his eyes. Taking the ends of the pile of canvas, he pulled them out towards him, unrolling them with zero care

“It’s not exactly fair when you know what’s happening and I don’t”

“If you complained less and worked faster you’d have found it by now. Okay, first one is to be painted. Let’s drag them into kind of a circle so we’re organised”

“I’ll drag, you direct. Alpha muscle and all that”

Working through the pile, Maki didn’t know why they needed so many banners. It was a six person cheer team

“Don’t you think this is a bit much?”

“No? Li and I discussed this”

If Li was involved then there was definitely going to be overkill, Maki pulling off another banner to be painted and dragging it away from the pile with a huff

“It’s not like the whole school is coming to see us”

“No, but we needed banners and it’s good for us to show we care. Though I did think we would have hit that by now”

There Tatsumi went again. Reaching the spot for the banner, Maki let himself fall on his arse. He was waging a sit in protest

“I’m not moving until you tell me what the hell has you so happy. There’s not going to be a huge cheque in the middle of all of this, is there?”

“No, but it’s just as good. Okay, maybe not just as good, but you can’t quit now”

Maki flipped him off, then flopped onto his back

“I’m protesting you and your happy mood. There’s six people in our cheer squad, Tatsumi. Six”

“So you’re not going to cheer for Stella and Anthony in their individual matches? And no one from the research time can cheer for their mods?”

Sitting back up, he’d not thought of that

“They’re allowed to watch?”

“What did you think we were taking them for? To repair mods and stayed cooped up until we need them? It’s not all about you”

“It could be. And I guess I’ve been too busy training to think, thanks to someone”

“You’re welcome. Fine, sit there you slacker, it’s painful watching you as it is. Let the real man get this done”

Maki took the bait hard

“You? You look ready to faint at any moment. What have you got that I don’t?”

Tatsumi grabbed the top banner and began dragging it off the pile towards his side of the gym

“Patience? No shoes? Five cups of coffee and knowing that you’ll love what’s waiting when you find it… but maybe I am asking too much of my poor little grandson”

“You’re insufferable when you’re like this”

“I’ll take the compliment. These muscles were made by combat, so a few small banners won’t defeat me”

“No, but I will. 5 banners each. Loser has to do what the winner says until lunch”

“Deal. You’d better pick up the pace then. I’m one up”

“I think you’re forgetting all the ones I’ve already dragged”

“You offered and the deal wasn’t in affect that the time you moved them. Get moving then”

Maki couldn’t win.

***

Tatsumi was excited. The banners for the individual pilots had been printed. The ones that would be hung by the school were already in the hands of the institutions maintenance team. Tatsumi had had three printed to hang in the mech training gym, and three smaller ones printed for their student pilots. Dragging off the last of the banners with the school emblem on them, he smiled at the sight of Stella standing in front of her bright yellow mech. It meant losing the competition with Maki, but it was well worth it because he knew the second Maki saw himself, he’d be excited.

Dragging the emblem over to the other ones, Tatsumi intentionally over fussed on the edges, giving Maki time to get back to the pile. Watching him, he saw the confusion on Maki’s face, before Stella’s banner was pulled back so he could check what was underneath

“Uh, Tatsumi…”

Pulling the thick silver marker out of his back pocket, Tatsumi walked back to the banners, holding the marker out to Maki

“Surprise. Here, I’ll take Stella, you go ahead and take a good hard look, then sign it. That signature might be worth something by the end of this”

“You want me to sign this? Isn’t that defacing it?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s fine. Stella and Anthony will sign there’s too. Call it favouritism, if it makes you feel better, but I wanted to see you find yourself before the others got here and you clammed up”

“I don’t remember posing for this”

Tatsumi chuckled. He knew Maki’s routine was hectic, but to forget he’d had his photo taken for the school forum was something else

“You posed the same day Stella and Anthony did. Then that image was combined with the best one of your mech. I chose it activated because I know you hate the white and orange”

Dressed in black with his midnight black mech, Maki looked like an avenging angel, descended from the heavens to win the competition. No one who looked at the photo would think a little thing like publicity would turn Maki into a walking idiot. He’d bumbled through the questions quite adorably then fallen into a sulk. For a “scary alpha”, he’d been terribly cute. Even the research team had been swayed. With wide eyes, Maki looked up at him almost fearfully

“Prof… can I really do this?”

It’d been a long time since he’d heard Maki calling him “Prof” or “Professor”. Tatsumi smiling gently

“Of course you can. I chose you. Do you really think I’d let you lose if I had no faith?”

“I…”

Getting to his feet in a flash. Tatsumi found himself in Maki’s arms. Stella’s banner beneath Maki’s boots as the alpha hugged him tightly

“I… I… thank you”

Wrapping his arms around Maki, Tatsumi smiled. Maki wasn’t one for hugging, nor was he one for public displays of friendliness. Had the others been there then he’d never of hugged him

“You’re welcome. I started this, but it’s you that’s making it happen”

“No… it’s because of you… Tatsumi”

Tatsumi’s heart gave a funny beat at his name. He knew Maki was precious to him, not only as a student but as a close friend. He was in too deep with the alpha, no matter what he might say, and no matter what his friends also said. He cared for Maki and he wanted to see him succeed with every fibre of his being

“Maki… I won’t let you down. I’ll be there for all of it and I’ll be cheering for you when you step into the arena. I don’t know if you’ll sink or swim but I know without a shadow of a doubt you will give it your all”

“You’ll be watching?”

The hug had passed a simply hug. Maki’s warmth was making Tatsumi’s exhausted muscles relax. He couldn’t scent Maki, so he knew it was because of their closeness. Every bit of him trusted in his friend

“Of course. I can’t be in the arena with you, but I can be there as close as I can be. We’re all supporting you. We all want to see you win. We all believe in you, kiddo”

“Tatsumi… I…”

“Come on, there’s no need for more words. You’re standing on Stella’s face”

Maki gave a sniffled snort, breaking the hug but keeping his hands on Tatsumi’s arms as he took a step back to look down

“Shit”

Snorting lightly, Tatsumi’s smile was full of fondness

“Yep. She’ll hit you if she finds your boot prints on her face. Go sign yourself. Like I said, it might be worth big bucks by the end of it. Hell, you might even get scholarship offers flooding through once everyone sees how good you are”

“I’ll believe it when I see it”

“Stop looking down on yourself. It doesn’t suit you. Where’s my foul attitude and fuck the rules alpha gotten to?”

“He was given a lifeline by a man he used to dislike”

With how Maki was looking at him, Tatsumi put space between them. Fiddling with his hair, he faked a pout and looked away

“You didn’t like me? I’m wounded, Maki”

“Yeah, well, past me was a bit of dick. I like you. I won’t let you down and I’m going to work hard to win. All those hours, you’re going to see just what I can do because you’ve been by my side”

That strange beat came back as Maki told him he liked him. He knew Maki meant as a friend, yet… He liked being by Maki’s side. He liked Maki’s enthusiasm and hard work. He liked it the alpha would get snappy from tiredness, or tell him off for being too demanding.

Tatsumi forced down ignored the intimacy of Maki’s words, drawing a shaky line between them

“I’ll be there until the end. Now, get off of Stella. I’m going to hang the three banners once you’ve signed yours. The other two knew it was coming, yet it’ll be a nice surprise to see them when they get here”

Maki softly said his name, emotions were too close to something else with the way Maki looked to him

“Tatsumi…”

He needed to put space between them. Tatsumi moving around Maki to the top of Stella’s banner

“It’s alright, you’ve got this”

[skykid-tarva]

I know I said this blog was going to be mostly Sky fanart and comics but I was stupid and decided to only start really time-consuming art projects so here are some screenshots instead.

(The first one is my favorite screenshot I’ve ever taken in Sky, I’m probably never going to top that one.)

[perahn]

TARVA MULTIPLES OF EIGHT

what is this, a Maths class? I thought you loved me

8. What is, perhaps, their biggest flaw? Are they aware of this or oblivious to it?

It sounds a bit peculiar to say that someone's biggest flaw is 'hero worship'. But Tarva is stubborn, a little bit short on flexibility, a big old guilt complex and very emotionally guarded, which is what happens when you blindly do your best to pattern yourself on a grieving widower with a nasty load of PTSD and survivor's guilt - and succeed pretty well.

Her friends and time in the wider world helps soften some of her own attitudes, and she learns to take advice from other sources. However, I think she is fundamentally unable to criticise Daeghun, or to realise that trying to be him isn't a good idea.

16. Is your character the athletic type or more of a couch potato? What are some sports/games that they like?

Tarva's classed as a fighter/weapon master, who's spent a significant time traipsing up and down the Sword Coast fighting things, and then back and forth across Rashemen. She's basically skin and bone and muscle.

That said, in the fic that would have crossed her over into Kirkwall, the demon that would have nearly swayed her was a sloth demon. By the end of Mask, she is bone-weary and half dead, and more than almost anything else, she was tempted to just stop fighting and rest. (is this relevant to the question? maybe not. is it the only place it will probably ever be mentioned? yes)

I don't think West Harbour did sports, apart from the Harvest Brawl. Which, now that I think about it... Tarva is very good at her fighting and takes pride in it, but I don't think she enjoys it? Although she certainly appreciates it as a distraction from troublesome thoughts at times... Anyway, almost certainly not a brawl; she's a small woman and needs the weight and momentum of her scythe to really be effective.

24. In their own words, how would your character describe what their lover is like?

"You want me to describe Gann? I'm not sure he'd ever forgive me - he does it so much better. But I think I may safely say that he is ridiculously vain, with almost every reason to be, but more steadfast than he would ever give himself credit for being."

32. If your character’s lover offered to take them out on a dream date, what would they want to do?

I mean

I meeeeaaaan

Jade, this is Gann-of-Dreams we’re talking about. When the man says ‘dream date’, he means it literally. He’s also a a lot more imaginative than Tarva; while he can shape fantastic dreamscapes - and does - all Tarva’s asking is to be with him. If she’s feeling particularly wry, she might add ‘somewhere nobody’s trying to kill them’.

40. Does your OC have any guilty pleasures they enjoy? Hobbies, past times, music, etc that they wouldn’t want known by others?

I don’t think so? She’s such a self-repressed person that she doesn’t have many hobbies, let alone the type she would feel guilty about having. I kept thinking about this for so long I’m almost sure there has to be something, but if so, I can’t fish it out.

48. Is there anything in particular that would ignite your character’s jealousy? Or does your character not get envious?

After all they’ve been through together, I think Tarva’s too secure with Gann to be easily made jealous. Moreover, although it’s difficult to gain her trust, it’s complete once given and not easily lost. Besides, there’s the Dreamer’s Heart - depending on how you read the flavour text, it creates an empathetic bond between the two. A bit harder for Tarva to feel jealous when you know, beyond any possibility of doubt, exactly how Gann feels about her.

[sailforvalinor]

So I was having a conversation with someone about how Narnia is a canonically flat world—which is absolutely wild if you think about it too hard, because that implies that its sun moves, and that its stars move. It also gets more complicated when you remember that there are canonically other planets that are shown to move (Tarva and Alambil) which can be presumed to be round planets. What does that make Narnia??? A floating flat disk with all of space orbiting it??? How does gravity flipping work???

Anyway, this inevitably got me to thinking about Tolkien, and how in Middle Earth, the world is canonically round—but not for elves. They can just ignore the curvature of the earth. Which is also wild. This is why they have such renowned eyesight, and this is also how they sail to Valinor—the only way to get there is to sail in a straight line from the Grey Havens.

All of this to say: I’ve just abruptly realized that my Tumblr username is technically flat-earther propaganda.

[raefever]

I Do It, Only For You

Hi so this is super late, I got really stuck with writing so I've done like barely any of the prompts but I managed to get this one finished (5 hours late lmao) it's bad and unedited and twice as long as I wanted it to be but here it is, enjoy.

Prompt:

Dreamfasting

_____________

Onica's patience was wearing thin. The last brother was teasing the horizon and Tavra had yet to show. They had agreed upon a time far earlier than this but as the hours dwindled there were no signs of her love.

The wood beneath her rocked in time with the waves, creaking as old timber often did.

Katavra's figure flew into view, dropping and dipping closer to the ground as the sky finally fell dark; something was off about her descent, she seemed to veer more to one side, circling down on her right side not daring to beat her left wing. Onica's lip curled in concern, there was clearly something amiss with her adventurous princess.

Tavra landed with a gargantuan thud, standing barely upright, instantly she took to leaning on the ships side for support. From the angle she stood nothing appeared immediately wrong.

"Tavra!" Onica cried out, suddenly in a hurry to reach Tavra's side. "What in Thra took you so long? I thought I would have to leave without you soon."

"I'm sorry," Tavra whispered, her voice shaking. She burrowed her face into Onica's neck, inhaling her rich scent, letting it work through her lungs and back out slowly. Onica's fingers trailed lightly over her back, smoothing the creases on her clothes. She ran her palms down Tavra's shoulders and sides. Tavra startled and cried out in pain when her hand grazed midway down her left side. Onica released her touch instantly, overcome with worry.

Tavra's tears slid down as Onica reached for the buttons of her coat, her fingers trembling as she undid them. Once Onica peeled away her princess's thick jacket there was an instant stench of blood, the pink liquid was pouring from a deep wound in her lover's side, soaking into the pale purple fabrics and staining the skin of its owner. Onica's face scrunched uncontrollably, affronted by the shocking sight.

Tavra's face contorted. The pain was overwhelming her. The Sifan scooped her silverling up, maneuvering her below deck and cautiously laying her in a nest of pillows.

Tavra listened in silence as Onica flitted around through her medicinal supplies, the ocean was gentle today, rocking the ship quietly from side to side. Onica returned to her, hands carrying fistfuls of bandages and ointments. The Sifan pulled Tavra into her lap, leaving her wound facing the ceiling.

The ointment stung heartily, making Tarva whimper ever so slightly. A kiss brushed her cheek as Onica's silent apology.

As the last few inches of bandages were tucked around her side she exhaled roughly, the excess pressure aggravating her weary lungs. Onica piled her supplies to one side taking her love's face into her palm and stroking it earnestly, tracing the pink of her cheeks.

"Show me."

The silverling hesitantly turned her palm up, letting their finger lace together.

__________

The lighting near the edge of the city was dim, Tavra noted as she made her way out. The buildings spread further and further from each other as the shore drew nearer. One quick drink in the tavern she thought, while she looked out the sea facing windows for her girlfriend's boat at docks. As she took her seat, the first sun nearing the horizon, her ears picked up a rather ugly conversation.

"That's the princess with the fish kissing girlfriend!" A Vapran man, voice as callous as his words, whispered entirely too loudly to his friends.

A splash of liquid poured over the man as Tavra tipped her drink over him.

"I would advise you to say no more whilst I am in earshot," Tavra snarled, staring the other Vapran down.

Standing to his full height The man swung for her, hate smearing his face. Tavra ducked backwards pulling her sword out to defend herself. The man grunted, pulling a weapon of his own, a long knife. He lunged again, missing her shoulder only barely. Tavra thumped the handle of her sword into his skull, hoping to knock him out. He swayed, his eyes dazed but unforgiving.

From the depth of his being, he growled, letting himself fall forward and plunge his weapon halfway into the princess's side. Tavra wailed, eyes welling involuntarily. She slumped down, momentarily stunned. When she next looked up the man's friends were pulling his half conscious form away from the tavern.

__________

Tavra pulled her hand free from Onica's, not wishing to remember any further.

Onica looked longingly into her darling's bright eyes. She could see the shame and pride swirl together on Tavra's features in a way that made her heart skip.

"You really must stop fighting everyone who looks down at us 'avra," she scolds, her tone light but her face full of meaning, "one day you won't be able to finish what you started."

"I'm sorry." Tavra blinked, "But I don't believe people like him should be allowed to speak as they please."

A long sigh wormed out of Onica's mouth. She laid down on the bed of pillows, snaking her arms under Tavra's neck and pulling her under her chin.

"I know my darling, but there is no way to change the minds of the many." Onica kissed Tavra's soft hair, feeling the many waves rock the two of them together. Away the drifted under the blanket of sleep, comforted by knowledge that they would one day be free of the opinions of the people.

[the-wolfs-raven]

the basics.

Name: Tarvasha Winterscale aka Tara Haalos Nickname(s): Tara, Vasha, Tarva, Mom, Mama Age: 29 Race: Half-Elf Gender: Female Sexuality: Pansexual Marital Status: Single, divorced Server: WrA primarily

physical appearance.

Piercings: None.  Tara’s body is pretty scarred and her ears are very sensitive, so it’s never been something she’s really thought of. Hair: Burgundy waves with a violet sheen (natural, current illusion), white (current natural state (life-drained via magic use)) Eyes: Violet-Blue Height: 6′0″ Build: Lithe, skinny

Distinguishing Marks: Violet crescent moon on her palm (Mark of Winterscale), various scars from her time as a slave, hysterectomy scar, Horde symbol cut into her back.

Common Accessories: Wears flowers in her hair/on her person on occasion.  A red braided necklace made from cloth taken from her daughter’s father.  Carries a large dark violet satchel with seemingly endless holding space.

personal.

Profession(s): Trader, brothel madam, entertainer, merchant, a jack of all trades, really. Hobbies: When Tara gets some time to herself, which is quite rare these days, she can often be found reading, cooking, fishing, or simply laying amongst a field of flowers.  She does enjoy a bit of painting from time to time as well.  Tarvasha is also a natural linguist and will spend a good deal of her time conversing with people of various different languages. Languages: Fluent - Darnassian (Quel’dorei and Modern dialects), Common, Orcish, Goblin, Zandali, Thalassian, Pandaren.  General speech - Ravenspeech, Draconic,  Dwarven, Gnomish, Taur-ahe, Draenei.  Simple words - Nerglish, Ursine, Tuskarr.  Read Only - Titan, Eredu, Qiraji Residence: Pandaren Heartland Birthplace: Felwood (Formally the Tranquil Glades) Religion: Loosely follows the lessons of the Wild Gods Patron Deity: If she were to choose one?  Aviana Fears: Enslavement, imprisonment, etc.  Cages, collars.  Minor fear of demons that is lessening over time.  Abandonment, estrangement, isolation.

relationships.

Spouse: Divorced (formerly Jake Fletcher and Theodore Gorister) Children: Taria Fletcher, Morwen Blackfeather Parents: Shalandrala Winterscale (corrupted Highborne), unnamed human mage Siblings: Mythsaerin Winterscale (half-brother) Other Relatives: Nyxaria Soulthorn (Sisters by Bond), Nylveaeleas Sagefang (Godmother)

traits.

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted Disorganized / In Between / Organized Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded Calm / In Between / Anxious Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable Cautious / In Between / Reckless Patient / In Between /  Impatient Outspoken / In Between / Reserved Leader / In Between / Follower Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic Traditional / In Between / Modern Hard-working / In Between / Lazy Cultured / In Between / Uncultured Loyal / In Between / Disloyal Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

additional information.

Smoking Habit: Smokes frequently.  Tobacco cigarettes, hookah. Drug Habit: Stimulants to keep her awake over days at a time, opium to bring herself back down, potent hallucinogen called Lover’s Kiss to ease her into sleep, a myriad of other occasional narcotics and depressants. Alcohol: Moderate alcoholic

rp hooks.

Sisters in Sin: Tarvasha worked for the Sisters in Sin brothel as a dancer, bartender, and, eventually, a full Sister.

Blue Wolf Imports: She owns Blue Wolf Imports in the Mage District in Stormwind, a sort of curiosity shop with a hookah lounge aesthetic.

Gilded Cage:  Tara is the acting Madam of the Gilded Cage brothel in northern Elwynn.  Though she has less time for logistics, she does still perform her duties and entertain on occasion.

Former Slave:  If you spent any time amongst the orcs (and were privy to their slave dealings) from the beginning of their settlement in Kalimdor ‘til about a year prior to the assault on Northrend, it is possible for you to have noticed her in passing or paid to use her depending on your involvement with the orcs.

Trader/Merchant: For the majority of the last six years, she has used the names Tara Haalos and Vasha in her trade dealings.  There are few people who have not at least heard of Trader Haalos, and she has contacts and routes all across Azeroth and beyond.  Most are perfectly legal, but she does have a fair amount of illicit endeavors as well.

Minor Witness:  Tarvasha was present at the trial of Garrosh Hellscream as a character witness who had been abducted and tortured by a Quartermaster (and her former slaver) who had been appointed to that position under Hellscream’s reign.  The widespread knowledge of Quartermaster Oog’tar’s dishonorable activities is what sparked them to call her to the stand.  She made a small statement about the orc and was dismissed shortly afterwards.

Blacktalon Agent:  When her daughter was mortally wounded in Pandaria, Tarvasha entered into an agreement with Wrathion to provide covert and informative services for him in exchange for saving her child’s life.  Tara is still an active agent, though she doesn’t see work very often.

Heartland Home:  Tarvasha lives in the Heartland of the Valley of the Four Winds in Pandaria.  She has been a common sight in Halfhill for the last three years as well, having bought land to cultivate a particular flower that she makes into sweets every spring.  It was also a central hub of trade for her when she first began making contacts in the mist-shrouded land.

other information.

There are many adult themes surrounding Tara.  I am more comfortable RPing with people 18 and older.

Tarvasha is a neutral character and has documentation allowing her to trade and sell her wares in Horde cities.  However, that doesn’t mean she’d be particularly welcome, as her human blood is obvious.

Tara is on a lot of drugs.  A LOT.  Most of them are uppers so she can keep up with all of her work, but its always possible she’ll just up and pass out on someone.  She’s also got a fair tolerance for many different types of drugs and toxins.

The woman hardly sleeps.  Because of this, she wears a lot of concealing makeup to hide the ugly dark circles under her eyes.  

Tarvasha is prone to up and disappearing for days, weeks, or even months at a time while tending to business.  She tries to stay in touch with friends and family, but is always grateful when they’re understanding of her frequent disappearing acts.

She is a lore-bendy character.  However, I am more than willing to simply disclude those things as they are not essential to her character and most are things that would not be brought up/discussed anyway.

I try to be very chill, but I’m still human and I can still get overwhelmed or upset by things.  Don’t be afraid to talk things out with me, because I’d rather we both be happy with the RP than having things be one-sided or forced.

I do also have two children and a job, so my availability can be sparse.  I seem to have an easier time RPing over Tumblr than Discord, but, overall, I prefer in-game RP.

I don’t read for fun outside of RPing.  I also don’t write outside of RPing or building my characters’ stories, so talking about events and plotlines OOCly is extremely beneficial to me.  I take a lot of care not to be a metagamer, and I have a hard time making split-second reactions, so having a chance to think about how she would realistically react allows me to put out a better, more character-centric story.

[teabooksandsweets]

I am a day late with my re-read of Prince Caspian – and I hope you don't mind that! – but oh, how glad I am to have read it again! In a way, I have loved it even more this time, but I'll get to that later. It's, as I have said before, my first time reading the books in their original order, and I have noticed a great many things that way – early mentions of Archenland and Calormen and the Lone Islands, for example, and other interesting bits of world building, and details, and even a few questions. I can't say I have a favourite quote. Perhaps its is because I am reading it for the first time in English, or perhaps it is because of my own matured taste, I don't really know, but – despite the prose and style of the Chronicles of Narnia being my favourite in the world anyway – the beautiful writing stood really out to me in this book, although in a sometimes different manner from the others, as some moments have the grand style of old-fashioned, epic story telling, still interwoven with Lewis' very personal and direct and intimate way of talking to his readers (with is a thing I particularly love about these books) and and all kept together by his particularly graceful and elegant, I dare say, bluntness. I have a few scenes I particularly love, with make up the largest parts of my favourite chapters – those being a great many actually: What Lucy saw (dear old Leopard, and the not yet awakened dryads) through The Return of the Lion to The Lion roars, How all were very busy and Aslan makes a door in the air, and The people that lived in hiding. However, the prose in Caspian's adventure in the mountains is also particularly beautiful, regarding the weather in particular – but you see, there's no use in it, and if I go on like that I will have mentioned every single chapter. Choosing an ultimate favourite chapter, I dare say it is The Return of the Lion. But my favourite quote, I say, is the entirety of Aslan's roaring, from the first low note to the arrival of all Old Life in Narnia. Or maybe, it is Lucy being awake in the Night, two chapters earlier, failing to do what He did later, yet only by a hair's breadth. I always feel, when reading a Narnia book, that Lewis understands. There's so many beautiful books, so many books that hold truth and so many books that hold beauty, but no book feels as real, as quite on point. Or at least, very few get close. Very few. It's here again – when Lewis describes a feeling or a place or a thought, it's always so close, so tangible and true. As for truth, I love how big and wide and old, and – through this – real Narnia feels in this book. It's a large world, with great wilderness, and many people and a rich history, and even deeper world building. I loved reading about Tarva, the Lord of Victory and Alambil, the Lady of Peace, which remind me of the Star of Bethlehem, and Aravir, the morning star. I was delighted by the mention of Caspian's grammar book, and I love to know that there is not only the month of Greenroof, but also a horse breed called Polemy, two lovely details I had sadly forgotten about. There are two things I wonder about: What happened to Edmund's torch? I've been asking myself that for a while, even before my reread. There were even sewing machines in Narnia, and I wonder if maybe somebody found it, and was able to reconstruct it. What is later Narnians had torches? The other thing is: When Narnia was created, it was near the end of the 19th century in our world. Did Lewis already have that in mind when he wrote this book, and were the Telmarines very modern pirates? Or was Narnia supposed to be much older at this point? Or perhaps, is time even more complex, and the moment Narnia existed, it has been simply there, and looking back, could be reached even from the past? My favourite character, oh my... Aslan has His own place, and I don't count him as a character, not like that. Lucy is always my favourite, in any book she's in. I love her, and I loved to see her so lively and short-tempered in this book. It reminded me how human, and what a dear she is, as I sometimes feel that in lot of fan content she is often put on a sort of pedestal, either as the always fierce warrior queen, or as the sweet little child who's always cheerful and always nice. I liked how angry she got at times – and rightfully so! – and how she, herself, developed over the course of the story. I also appreciate Caspian even more now. How sweet he was! And how much he cared about his horse, and how much adorable he was, trying to talk to the dogs and cats, who wagged their tales and purred at him, because they liked him, because he was such a dear. Oh, and I love how clearly Susan is herself in this book. I really wonder why people think her story later on came out of nowhere, or how her gentleness was in any way contrary to her fierceness. She was a good shooter and very proud about it, but she hated all cruelty – which is only good, and not at all implausible. She also, very often, didn't want to believe, even when she knew it to be true, even when she actually, deep down, did believe. Susan's been Susan, that early on, and her story – in its good and its bad – is not surprising, and actually feels very natural. That's a very important aspect of all the (more important) characters – their stories and their ways are very clear, very plausible, and, if not planned early on, then followed, in a very flowing way, very true to who they are. I also loved Trufflehunter and Reepicheep and the animals in general, and at times I felt sorry for Wimbleweather and the bears. I also dare say, Nikabrik is a delightfully complex character, and Lewis had written him very well. That, however, doesn't make me like him. My rating? Better than I had expected, which means a lot, since these are my favourite books in the world. Prince Caspian specifically, had been my first true contact to Narnia – when the first movie came out, and I couldn't see it in the cinema, I got the dvd of the BBC version of Prince Caspian (and the Voyage) and that was the first Narnian story I ever got to see. Then, I listened to the audio book of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and only then, many years later, I read the books, in German, and in chronological order. Prince Caspian was for me, always a more serious, and a bit slower book, compared to the others, though I nonetheless loved it. When re-reading a Narnia book, I am always a bit afraid – what if I don't like it as much as I used to? What if I grew out of it? What if it isn't as good as my memory of it? And every time, I am disabused of it: the Narnia books, like Aslan, grow with me. Each time I read them, I love them even more. They mean even more to me, they feel even better, even grander – and this book in particular was such a wonderful experience to read. So utterly delightful, and happy, and sad, and good. I am so happy to have read it.

[cultivating-wildflowers]

quick: friends more familiar with Korean than myself, how do I order this for dinner tomorrow without sounding like a complete idiot?

[lukerhill]

Turn an IKEA Tarva dresser into a nightstand

How to turn the small Tarva dresser from IKEA into a beautiful bedroom nightstand!

I searched for the perfect nightstands for our room for years! I could never find exactly what I wanted. 

They had to be tall enough and have plenty of storage. (We keep a lot of books in our nightstands.) OH and the biggie -- they couldn't cost hundreds of dollars each. 

I finally ended up with the Tarva dresser from IKEA after seeing all the ways you can hack the Tarva dresser to get the look you want.    

This Tarva line comes in a variety of sizes, from three to six drawers. They all come unfinished, so you can customize them exactly how you want for your space. 

The drawers are nice and roomy and you can cut down the legs to adjust the height of the dressers. The best part -- they're only $100 each! 

This is how our Tarva nightstands started out:

When I put them together years ago I cut down the legs with my saw. It made them the perfect height for by the bed.

I went back and forth on a look for these forEVER. Here's a reminder of how they looked in our old master: 

I replaced the wood knobs with random IKEA ones we already had -- not sure why cause it didn't do a whole lot to help it out. ;) 

I always knew I'd use stain somehow and add some trim. The exact details I wasn't sure of. But when we moved into this house it all fell into place. I wanted to use a deep blue color and a dark stain. I went back and forth on whether I should stain the front of the drawers or stain the trim and top. 

I decided on the latter mostly because the pine these are made of isn't necessarily the best. There are lots of knots I didn't want to accentuate. 

I started painting with no primer -- I'm a rebel! I knew I was going to have to do multiple coats no matter what. 

After the first coat it's important to do a light sanding to knock down the texture that pops up with paint:

You'll have to do that with primer as well. No need to go crazy with it -- just a light going over is fine. Wipe it down with a rag or tack cloth before moving on to your next coat! (This pretty blue is called Gale Force.)

What a difference another coat makes! The grain becomes less and less noticeable. 

See the difference between the top drawer and the bottom two?: 

I started on the stain to wood top of the dresser while I waited on the paint to dry. 

I went for an old favorite, Jacobean by Minwax:

It's just a yummy color! I used it on our hardwoods in the old house and it's a beautiful dark brown without any red tones. 

I use gloves and a rag to stain. Makes it super easy to apply and I find it quicker than using a brush:  

It really gets the stain into the wood too -- you're really rubbing it in. 

I only do one coat of stain but if you want to deepen the color you can do one or two more. Do be sure to wait till it's dry in between coats or you'll have a gummy mess. 

Make sure your stain is dry before starting the protective coat as well. I used this fast-drying semi-gloss polyurethane because I have absolutely zero patience. 😂 

Never shake your poly -- it will create bubbles and bubbles are the enemy of a beautiful, smooth finish. 

Always stir:

Staining is my favorite because it's immediate gratification, but poly is a close second because it really brings out the beauty of the wood:

Even though these dressers are made with inexpensive pine, which can be finicky with stain, it turned out beautifully! 

You want to smooth out the poly coats as much as possible. It's helpful to use your light source and look at the item from the side to see what needs touching up. I find a few lighter coats work much better than one heavy-handed coat. 

It already looked SO good! But I knew the final addition would make it even better. I used this inexpensive lattice wood trim I've shown you a million times to trim out each drawer front. 

I stained the pieces first and then cut them down to the correct size:

A nail gun makes for quick work (use short nails to make sure they won't go through the back!) but you could absolutely use glue too!

You're going to have a bit of a rough edge along the side if you trim them out like I did. I could have mitered the edges (cut them at an angle) but I was still using my handheld saw and miter box since my saw was "lost" in our move. 

I wanted to have my rough edges facing to the side of the drawers instead of the top, so I did a long piece along the top and bottom and then the side trim. 

A bit of stain covered the raw edges right up!:

When the stain was dry, it was time to poly these as well. 

See how using the light helps to see what you've covered?:

I'm absolutely THRILLED with how this came together! Gah! I love it! The top of the dressers stained up much prettier than I thought it would!:

I'm impressed because we've been using these for years without any protection. I tried to stay on top of any spills and avoided leaving drinks on them, but still, I was surprised. 

I used pine trim to match the top. Different woods will stain up differently and even the same may have small differences. 

Pine is definitely a more rustic look, so plan accordingly: 

I got the gold knobs half off weeks ago and just LOVE them against the dark blue! 

My whole plan for this space is a rustic elegance design and the nightstands fit that perfectly:

The blue looks navy sometimes, sometimes a blue green. I like them both. :) 

I don't know if it's just because I've been looking at the pine dressers for so long or what, but I'm smitten. They're just so pretty and...finished. ;) 

Sometimes it's a good thing that I procrastinate. I didn't have a great vision of what I wanted until we moved into this house.

I had the lamps -- I thought I had returned them and went to the basement looking for something else and there they were! I must have known they'd work perfectly!:

Of course, like usual, one finished project starts a series of changes. I plan to change out the bedskirt eventually. It looked great with our old wall color but I don't like it in here with the drapes and dresser color: 

But that I can deal with! 

That photo above makes the dresser look really navy, but this one is the more true color. I am obsessed with it! It's such a pretty blue: 

Because you know I have to do it...here's the before of this dresser:

And this is the after, with some paint, stain and beautiful hardware!:

I've made a TON of changes in our bedroom since finishing these nightstands! You can see all of the updates to our room over the years here. 

Don't the nightstands look great with our gorgeous rug and the hardwoods?: 

If you have any questions about this project let me know! 

See more of our home here. To shop items in our home, click here! Never miss a post by signing up to get posts via email. 

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[frodo-with-glasses]

His hands.

Not SamFro!

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Rage Fire Institution

Building. 25.

“What time of the night do you call this to be sneaking in? Couldn’t keep it in your pants any longer?”

Returning to his bedroom, Maki ignored Tarva as he went about undoing his boots. He felt drained, mentally and physically. He’d seen something he wasn’t supposed to see and nearly lost his chance at being piloted by an actual pilot who knew how his new mech would work. To see Tatsumi look at him as he were a monster had really stung. He hadn’t meant to interrupt his babysitter, yet he didn’t regret going back. Talking to Tatsumi wasn’t unpleasant, but it was also not entirely uncomfortable. He didn’t understand Tatsumi’s morals as he thought he did and was thrown for a loop by them. With Tarva being a jackarse, Maki figured he might as well stump the fellow alpha.

“What would make someone say that it’d be nice if the world wasn’t against each other?”

Guduis raised an eyebrow, pausing mid shovel of potato chips into his mouth

“Are you asking for relationship advice?”

From the bunk above, Tarva supplied unhelpfully

“You think someone’s going to date this freak? More like he got dumped and didn’t realise they were even dating”

Guduis snorted, spilling his chips as he did

“I think Maki wouldn’t be that dense. So, did you get dumped?”

Half of him wished he’d kept his mouth shut. He was talking about Tatsumi, not a lover

“You’re both useless. Forget it”

Sitting up, Guduis wiped his hand on his shirt

“No, no. We’re invested now. What did you say that prompted that reply?”

“The usual. Dynamics shouldn’t matter. Alphas have a responsibility not to be shitty, suppressants or not. That it shouldn’t matter what dynamic you are, it’s all about piloting skill”

Maki couldn’t recall word for word, so went with the general gist. Guduis scratched his chin

“Maybe they’ve faced discrimination? Are they an omega, beta, or alpha?”

“Why should it matter? You can be any dynamic and be a shitty person”

Tarva stuck his head over the side of the bunk

“Obviously how you see the world is going to influenced by your dynamic. Omegas still have to keep their guard up. Alphas like us know better, but what if your girlfriend is an omega? How do you know she hasn’t been exposed to something bad? It’s a bit unrealistic to think everyone in the galaxy can get along”

Maki reached up, shoving Tarva back by the face. Tarva slapping his hand away, and Maki went back to undoing his second boot as he mumbled

“It’s not a girl. I was talking to a friend”

From above him came

“If it’s not a girl, why are you boring us with this?”

Guduis went back to his chips, chewing as he spoke

“Ignore him, he’s an idiot. He does have a point, if you weren’t with a girl, where were you?”

“At the research wing with my piloting teacher. I don’t get it though. As an alpha, shouldn’t they be in agreement? Why wouldn’t they straight out agree?”

“Maybe Tarva’s right? Maybe they aren’t an alpha? He’s got a point about how omegas are presented in dramas”

Maki couldn’t imagine Tatsumi as an omega. Someone would have married him by now if he was, and he’d had a rut companion

“They’re definitely an alpha? Suppressants turn us all into betas while we’re on them. Why don’t you just ask next time?”

He didn’t ask because he already knew Tatsumi was an alpha…

“Yeah. Maybe. Anyway, I wasn’t off campus so there’s no need to run to Skylark. I’ll probably be getting back late until the competition is over”

Tarva sighed

“We’ve all heard about this competition, we don’t need you bragging about your extra time piloting. We don’t care”

If Tarva didn’t care, than he shouldn’t sound so jealous

“Don’t get mad at me. I didn’t ask to be chosen”

“Sure. Get ready for bed, you’re keeping us all awake”

Maki did just that. Brushing his teeth and donning his pyjama bottoms before climbing into bed. He couldn’t get Tatsumi out of his head. He’d played down seeing the man’s scars, but they looked painful, as if someone had branded a broken spider web up the man’s side and back. Maki knew war wasn’t pretty, still… it seemed unfair and confusing. Nanotech could erase those scars in a moment, yet Tatsumi chose to keep them, while being afraid of them being seen. As he rolled on to his side, he remembered what Tatsumi had actually said to get under his skin. What I weren’t an alpha?

Rolling back over, Maki dug the heels of his palms into his eyes lightly. Tatsumi was an alpha. Did that mean he thought the man thought him too naive? Or was he saying he wasn’t an alpha after all? It was no good, Maki was too tired and he simply didn’t understand why Tatsumi would say what he did… but what if Tatsumi were a beta or an omega? It might explain why the man was so sensitive over Maki seeing his scars. He was an alpha and everyone knew it… so he shouldn’t be looking at someones body without their permission. Tatsumi had well defined muscles, not too large and not too small… and his chest had been hair free as far as he’d seen. No. He was overtired. His brain was being stupid because he lacked sleep. He was not thinking about his babysitter that was because the man was a tyrant and he had his piloting career to think of.

***

Maki wasn’t supposed to be messaging in class, he’d messaged Tatsumi to tell him to message him when he was awake. Maki already in his advanced mathematics class when finally got a reply from the man, a photo of coffee and food. Messaging back a reminder that Tatsumi was banned from the lab still, he thought their message chain would stop there. Only, it hadn’t. Tatsumi didn’t understand the whole resting thing, Maki receiving half a dozen new messages as he tried to focus. He didn’t know why, but he found himself getting excited as prospective paint colours for his competition mech loaded in their chat, followed by a link to a colour chart, and another link under it.

Opening the second link, a snort of laughter escaped him. The second link showing a mock up model of a bright pink mech covered in gaudy lazy pandas, with a red question mark over the chest. The mech looked far worse with its bright pink coating than it had hanging up on the day he’d first seen it. Tatsumi knew too well that he’d find it hilarious, and now the bastard had everyone in the class staring at the alpha, unbeknownst to Maki.

Feeling the need to counter the joking offer, Maki quickly worked out how to change the colour and print settings, setting about making the ugliest mech possible. Out of respect for Stella and Anthony, Maki kept yellow and green out of his colour pallet, opting to make a repulsive camo pattern of browns, off purples, and lime green. Playing on the face Tatsumi had broken his glasses, he placed a glasses pattern over the mech in thick sky blue frames… before deciding what was the point of stopping there, adding boots and gloves. Secretly he was quite proud of the hideousness of the design. If any pilot took the skin onto the battlefield it’d be the first time in history a war stopped due to everyone being united by how hideous a mech was. Sending it off to Tatsumi, Maki then realised he was the last one left in the classroom with the next class waiting in the doorway. He’d gotten so caught up in the interface that he’d really gone and missed the end of class.

Busting his arse to get to his next class, he’d barely sat down next to his class partner Jordan Longe, a shy alpha who’d been bullied due to his delicate features, when a new string of messages came flooding through. Jordan had looked ready to faint when they’d first met, but Maki couldn’t be anyone but Maki. He may have slightly punched a beta who was leading a group of omegas to tease the man. They weren’t close, yet they did prefer sitting together in military history seeing Jordan knew Maki wasn’t about to him and Maki liked a quiet work partner.

Checking his new messages, Tatsumi had been an arsehole and uploaded his scummy design to the project group chat. Alex was going crazy. Sara had mentioned it seemed a joke. Flo had written a stern lecture, ending it with pleading with Tatsumi not to let Maki have his way. The joke called for retaliation, Maki quickly sending through Tatsumi’s design and asking the group if they preferred that one better because he was leaning towards it. Once he was done, he opened his chat with Tatsumi.

MakingGood > You’ve gone and upset the kids now. Want to be Flo chooses your design?

ThatLoneTree > You started it. I sent a perfectly acceptable design.

Maki snorted. In no way was Tatsumi’s design any good at all.

MakingGood > Your designs are awful. You are awful. Bad grandpa!

ThatLoneTree: Oh great grandson, teach this poor bad sighted grandpa the way of mech designs.

Tatsumi was a menace. Maki not realising he was smiling until Jordan nudged him lightly

“Aren’t you going to study today? You haven’t got your data pad out and the teacher’s staring”

Maki felt Jordan could have warned him sooner. His cheeks dusting red as he looked up and realised he was sprung. Some of his class members giggling annoyingly. Stirred up by Tatsumi, Maki felt the niggling need for revenge

“Sorry, it’s about the school research competition. Submissions for the mech design have begun within the project group”

The giggling promptly stopped, his teacher shaking his head at him

“Save that for after class Mister Sato. I’ll see you in detention. Mister Longe please make sure Mister Sato manages to keep his hands off his comms?”

Halcial the Glacial was their military history teacher. So named because he was so old that his skin had taken on a sickly purple hue as if suffering from hypothermia. Rumour had it that he was old as Rage Fire itself. With how their class schedule was set, military history only rolled around once a fortnight. Jordan had been teased that he could be a distant relative of the man given his blue hair. Maki didn’t mind the old man, yet by all things in the galaxy, Halcial could waffle on and on.

Shuffling back to his seat, Maki watched him go until he realised Jordan was still looking at him

“Don’t worry, I’m putting my comms away”

“It’s not that. You’re smiling. Did something good happen?”

What would it harm to let Jordan in on the joke? Quickly he opened up the first link, leaning over to show Jordan the projection

“Our project leader sent this one. He designed it”

Jordan wrinkled his nose at it

“It’s… um… interesting?”

His seat mate didn’t get the joke

“Don’t worry, he only sent it through to send the page where I can design. It’s a joke. This is the one I sent him back”

His dressed mech earned a little snort from Jordan. Maki nodding at the sound

“Exactly. He started it”

“Please don’t let anyone else ever see that”

“Too late, the arsehole put it in our chat. I think they think we’re serious”

“Okay, I’m glad you’re not, but please put your comms away. We’re hear to learn”

Jordan was a tough crowd… and Maki kind of needed to keep his grades up. So he tried. He tried valiantly until Halcial started getting off topic and into the history of diamond mining. Having many planets in the Galaxy Empire where diamonds fell as rain, Maki gave up paying attention.

ThatLoneTree: Did my grandson fall asleep?

ThatLoneTree: Dearest grandson may Grandpa please have permission to visit the labs?

ThatLoneTree: Camden is staging a protest over mech design. He refuses to fit his mods onto anything that ugly :(

ThatLoneTree: I have calmed the team. They are in agreement to replace you as pilot if you do not submit a passable design.

ThatLoneTree: Thanks to this forced day off, I neglected to remember that you indeed have class. Don’t even think about replying. Study! Your grandfather says!

The old fart was only 6 years older than Maki. That hardly made Tatsumi a grandpa. He’d never live it down.

MakingGood: You waffle on like a good old man should. I got detention thanks to your mech design. Apologise to your grandson.

ThatLoneTree: I am sincerely sorry that you disliked my design. Perhaps you could give me pointers as I have previous requested?

MakingGood: I will design my own mech myself. No need for grandpas with bad sight to do all the work. Open for suggestions?

ThatLoneTree: I suggest you do your class work, then remember to eat lunch. Make sure you eat something healthy.

MakingGood: Why must I eat lunch when I do not know if my poor grandfather has eaten lunch?

ThatLoneTree: Photos were provided. Please see earlier attachment. This old man isn’t hungry. Do your school work. Grandpa will not be replying until the end of school hours.

Maki felt slightly disappointed. Normally it was him and Li messaging, not him and Tatsumi. He was happy that despite what had happened the night before, Tatsumi had listened and not sulked over it.

MakingGood: For my old and blind grandpa I’ll do my best. You’re still banned from the lab.

ThatLoneTree: Such a mean grandson. Wait until you see my plans for your mech. Now shoo!

Tatsumi may have meant it as a joke, yet Maki seriously wanted to see what designs the man could produce for the mech. He also wanted to try his hand at designing his mech the way he wanted it… but Tatsumi had the day free to work on it, and he didn’t… not unless he worked through his normal classes. Despite knowing he should know better, come lunch time, he had a mile long list of prospective ideas and no one to share them with yet.

[redbootsindoriath]

I told you there would be more pirate AU art. Post-Nargothrond stuff this time, I don’t have much of that but in case anybody wants to see Niënor again here you go.

Do I have a design for Glaurung in canon?  Nope.  Do I have a design for him as a sea serpent?  LOL, yup.

[galaxymamacathy]

My Top 5 Ikea Products

I love Ikea, a lot. On my list of top 10 favourite places to go top three are Ihop, Winners and Ikea. I’ve been to Ikea A LOT, and when I lived just a short bus ride away from Ikea I would visit almost monthly.  My husband does not like Ikea nearly as much as I do, but he tolerates my obsession. Before we had Little, when we lived in a tiny apartment that was nearly too small to add more furniture, we would build Ikea furniture while drinking wine. For each of my favourite items, I will list three reasons why I like this item.

1. Tarva Bedframe (Queen) • Love the unfinished wood look • Was really awesome for us at the time because it didn’t (doesn’t) need a box spring and we had recently gotten rid of our box spring, which was the whole reason we were buying a new bed frame, is the frame we had needed a box spring • It NEEDS the upgrade to the Lonset Bed base, we didn’t upgrade the base until after our wedding and just from normal sleep rolling the slats of the bed would fall out on a weekly basis, it was terrifyingly hilarious • It doesn’t come in King which makes me really sad because we plan to upgrade our bed to a king-size once we’re renting a house and I love the look of this frame so much!

2. Brimnes Bookcase (White) • We actually have this bookcase in black, just because when we bought it black matched our existing furniture better, but if I could back in time I’d buy it in white. When we have a bigger place it's quite likely we will separate my office from the living room and the black bookcase will keep living in the living room and I’ll get myself a white one to live in my office • It was really easy to build, but we built it late at night. Husband chatted with our building superintendent to keep him outside so he wouldn’t hear me hammer the back of the bookcase in place at 11pm (lol) • The DRAWERS are AWSOME

3. Besta Burs Desk • This is my desk, Husband bought it for me when we moved in together. When we moved in together I was coming from my dorm room and didn’t own my own furniture for the most part and Husband decided to treat me by buying me an office set for our new apartment • This desk is RIDICULOUSLY heavy. Seriously. The tabletop is like 20lbs on its own (ok, not really, but carrying it into my third story apartment in 28-degree weather while 4.5 months pregnant was not pleasant) • I love the top because you can write on it with a whiteboard marker and it wipes right off! Which was really helpful when I was still in school because I could write my to-do list right on my desk • The drawers were very difficult to build. Husband and I couldn’t figure it out (although we struggle with Ikea drawers in general) and my Dad ended up fixing the drawers for us

4. Alex Drawer Set (9 Drawer Version) • I wanted this for a while before I bought it to store my makeup • All my makeup fits in, and I like it because it was such a pain to build and I DO NOT want to do that again, so it encourages me to not acquire too much makeup so that I don’t outgrow this drawer unit

5. Sniglar (Crib) • Simplistic and matches the theme of our nursery • High enough that me being short was a non-issue (many of the cribs we saw I didn’t like because they were very tall and I felt that I wouldn’t be able to reach the baby) • Easy to assemble while 9 months pregnant • Will be easy to take apart and store for future children

*This list is in no particular order **This list reflects my personal opinions *** not sponsored by Ikea